


In It For The Long Haul

by Gold_and_Rubies



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Denial of Feelings, Diamond City, Drinking, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Goodneighbor (Fallout), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, My First Fanfic, My first fic, Not Beta Read, Original Character(s), POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Smoking, Strong Language, alternate sole survivor - Freeform, she is not nora, we'll see how this goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 52,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24079924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gold_and_Rubies/pseuds/Gold_and_Rubies
Summary: Claudia Flynn knew that the world would end, but she did not expect it to be so soon, nor did she expect to help rebuild it two hundred years later. She certainly did not expect a mercenary to be her biggest supporter.Robert MacCready never expected to meet his saving grace in a bar in Goodneighbor, or for it to be his employer. He certainly did not expect to be one of the biggest reasons behind the Commonwealth changing for the better.This is my first ever work, I hope you enjoy it! Constructive Criticism is welcome.
Relationships: Robert Joseph MacCready/Female Sole Survivor, Robert Joseph MacCready/Original Female Character(s), Robert Joseph MacCready/Sole Survivor
Comments: 32
Kudos: 48





	1. Claudia

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains strong language, graphic depictions of violence, and puking. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of my first ever fic. Please comment to let me know what you did and did not like. I could really use the feedback. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia Flynn knew that the world would end, but she did not expect it to be so soon, nor did she expect to help rebuild it two hundred years later. She certainly did not expect a mercenary to be her biggest supporter.  
> Robert MacCready never expected to meet his saving grace in a bar in Goodneighbor, or for it to be his employer. He certainly did not expect to be one of the biggest reasons behind the Commonwealth changing for the better.
> 
> This is my first ever work, I hope you enjoy it! Constructive Criticism is welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains strong language, graphic depictions of violence, and puking. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of my first ever fic. Please comment to let me know what you did and did not like. I could really use the feedback. Enjoy! This chapter has been updated, so it is a tad bit longer than it used to be.

In less than twenty-four hours Claudia Flynn had experienced more death than most would in their entire lives. The world she had known had been destroyed by atomic fire. She had lost her friends and family at the flip of a switch, or perhaps the press of a button. Then those who had made it into the vault with her had lost their lives to a malfunction, except for one family, a couple and their infant son. The child had been kidnapped and the father was fatally shot in the process. The mother didn't fare much better. She had died within her first few hours in the wasteland. The poor woman didn't even get a chance to save her baby. Claudia had promised her that she would find her baby, not just for Nora’s sake, but also for her own. She needed a reason to push on after losing so much.  


Her new acquaintances had given her another reason to press on. The people who Nora died trying to help needed more than to be saved. They had needed a home, and Claudia wasn't going to leave them hanging. Claudia led them to Sanctuary, and helped them get settled there. With help from the handyman Sturges and Nora’s old Mister Handy bot, Codsworth, she started to make the place livable again.  


After a week though, being in her old home started getting to her. It was a stark reminder of everything she had lost. A truth she wasn't ready to face. Noticing how antsy she was getting, Preston Garvey asked her if she was up for doing Minuteman duties instead. Claudia had accepted the offer appreciatively. Preston had sent her to help a farm that had asked help from the Minutemen. Claudia felt a little guilty for not diving head first into the kidnapping, but she also felt like if she went in unprepared she was good as dead. So, instead she was going to take out another raider gang.  


Worry prickled at her. Sure she had surprisingly good aim and knew basic self defence, but she had been anything but a fighter before the war. She had not been part of the military or even law enforcement, much less a gang or the mafia. Her father had done a great job at teaching her how to hunt and shoot at the practice range, sure. People, though, people were different.  


Dogmeat bounded ahead of her on the cracked pavement. She had found him at the Red Rocket truck stop between Sanctuary and Concord. He was a remarkably healthy German Shepherd given he was living in a radioactive wasteland. Claudia was incredibly thankful for him. He offered comfort without questions, which she needed right now. The settlers had been respectful in their questions, but she was still in shock. She had not and didn't want to come to terms with what had happened. What she had lost.  


Instead she focused on the task at hand. That is how she always coped with things. She would throw herself into whatever work she had. Schoolwork, her job, her music. The only difference for this is it involved violence.  


Soon enough she arrived at the farm she was sent to help.  


“Hello?” She called.  


A woman with a shotgun walked out of the tiny wooden shack, pointing it at Claudia. “What do you want? We don’t need anymore trouble,” she demanded from the crooked steps.  


“Relax,” Claudia said as she raised her hands to seem less threatening, “I was sent by the Minutemen. You asked for help?”  


“Really? We didn’t really think you people still existed, especially after Quincy,” she said.  


“We’re rebuilding the Minutemen,” she replied.  


“Hey, you won’t hear any complaints from us. Things have gotten worse since the Minutemen fell to pieces,” she said.  


“So, what do you need help with?” she asked as she lowered her arms back down.  


“There’s a raider gang that won’t leave us alone, and we’re just farmers so we can’t stand up to guys like that,” she explained, “but we do know where they are. They’re stationed in the old Corvega Assembly Plant.” She pointed to the factory in the distance.  


“Alright, I’ll go take care of them for you,” she said.  


Just as she started making her way down the hill, the woman called to her. “Before you go take some advice. Try to stay clear out of Lexington. The place is filled with ghouls.”  
That was the second time someone had mentioned ghouls, and she didn’t know what they were. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.  


It was noon by the time she got to the old factory. Her back was glued to the western wall as she came up with a plan. Around the corner there were about three raiders, one of which was carrying what seemed to be a pool cue. That would be no issue given it was a surprise attack. The issue, however, was the turret. There was no way she could get to it to disable it without becoming Swiss Cheese, even if she could in the first place. She pulled a grenade from her pack, and wondered if she could throw it far enough.  


_Better than nothing_ , she thought to herself, _With any luck I’ll get those bastards up top too_.  


For once in her life she did have luck. It left the turret nothing more than a smoking pile of shrapnel. Various body parts of the raiders were strewn about. Her stomach churned slightly. She had never been the type to get queasy with blood and injuries, but this was something else entirely, and more importantly she had caused it. She tried to push those thoughts aside as she shot the third. There was no more law enforcement. No more prison. The only way to get them to stop was killing them, and no one else was going to do it. Although she was unsure if she would ever be able to truly come to terms with this, she pushed on regardless.  


Once inside she followed Dogmeat through the maze of rooms. At first she had been worried as to how she would even get out alive. Then they demonstrated their lack of intelligence, and that they made up for it with an abundance of cockiness. How they had survived so long, she didn't know.  


The duo didn't have much trouble until they had to face off against the gang's leader. He was in a room with conveyor belts and nearly finished Corvegas, which offered better cover than wall corners. At least four other raiders paced the large room. More turrets sat atop a room connected to a cat walk. Spilled gasoline, oxygen tanks, and various other combustibles littered the place, and since she wanted to get out alive grenades were out of the question.  


She didn't have enough time to come up with a plan, as she was almost immediately spotted. A woman with a knife charged her. She shot her twice in the chest before she got too close for comfort. Dogmeat expertly pounced on another raider, tearing him to shreds. Claudia took down another, rather stupid one, who tried to out distance her pistol with a shotgun. She ducked behind a pillar when there were only two left. Dogmeat followed her actions and found cover for himself. She vaguely wondered how he had learned to fight.  


“YOU’RE FUCKIN’ DEAD MEAT BITCH!” One of them roared.  


Claudia peeked from behind her cover, and shot him in the head. She winced at the sight.  


“YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” the last one raged.  


She took a breath, steeling her nerves. With a surprising amount of speed she took down the remaining raider. She released the breath with a sigh.  


As she lowered her gun she debated with herself as to whether to loot the bodies or not. She shuddered at the thought. She had taken the raiders down, because ultimately it was the right thing. Taking their belongings was pushing the boundaries for her. Eventually she buried those feelings to be dealt with later, along with everything else from the past week.  


_They really do use bottle caps for money_ , she thought as she searched the bodies. Even though she didn't take Preston for the type to do so, she had thought the caps he gave her had been a joke. 

She added that to the ever growing list of things to adapt to. She was thankful she was a quick learner.  


By the time she got back to Tenpines Bluff it was mid afternoon. The walk back had been uneventful allowing for her adrenaline to die back down. Her body ached and stung, but the looks on the farmers’ faces were worth it.  


“You’re… you’re back… and alive.” the woman from before said, “How did it go?” There was hopefulness in her voice.  


“I took care of them. All of them. They won’t be bothering you anymore,” she said with a soft smile.  


Pure joy erupted on their faces.  


“Thank you so much! You have no idea what you’ve done for us!” the man said. He looked like he was close to tears.  


“You’re welcome,” she said.  


“I know it isn’t much, but… we want you to have this,” the woman said, handing Claudia a small leather pouch full of caps.  


“That isn’t necessary.”  


“We insist! And we were talking, and we agreed that if you pulled through for us, we’d support the Minutemen. Things’ll only get better if we’re together.”  
Claudia smiled, “Thank you. If you ever need help, you can depend on us.”  


***

  


Claudia returned to Sanctuary just before sunset. She shivered as a cold wind blew past her. She checked the temperature on her Pip-Boy. It read 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Another shiver ripped through her. Having only moved to Boston over the summer before the bombs, she was unaccustomed to it being this cold this early in the year. Fall in the Central Valley had been kinder to her. Although she did prefer the New England summer.  


Dogmeat left her side to go say hello to the new residents, as she set down her pack in her reclaimed house. Although talking to Preston about her success was important, properly taking care of her injuries was more so.  


She stripped off her mismatched armor, jacket, and jeans. Her left bicep and right upper thigh had both been grazed by bullets. Thankfully both injuries were not particularly serious. Both had done just enough damage to draw blood, but she was worried about infection. Rifling through her mediocre med-kit she dressed her wounds to the best of her ability. She chided herself for not asking for help with her arm as it was difficult to do one handed. When she was done she put on a different jacket and pair of jeans. Both were just as dirty as the ones from before, but they had less holes in them.  


Preston was standing in front of the bridge staring at the darkening sky when she found him. He turned when he heard her approaching.  


“So, how’d it go?” he asked.  


“Took care of the raiders in Corvega, and the people at Tenpines Bluff have decided to support us.”  


His face lit up. “That’s great news.”  


“Figured you’d be happy about that.”  


“Oh, before I forget. I wanted to give you this. It’s a flare gun,” he explained as he handed it to her.  


“Thanks, Preston. In a place like this? I’m sure it’ll be put to good use.”  


“I know it’s not much right now, but once we have more allied settlements you’ll have help whenever you need it.”  


An awkward silence fell between them. Preston shifted, turning his gaze back to the sky before asking, “I haven’t told how I became the last Minuteman, have I?”  


“Didn’t want to push you,” she replied, pushing her hands into her jacket pockets.  


“Have you heard about the Quincy Massacre?” he hesitantly asked.  


“No. The people at Tenpines mentioned something about Quincy, but I didn’t know what they were talking about. Why, what happened?”  


He was quiet for a moment before he spoke, a pained look coming across his face.  


“A mercenary group called the Gunners attacked Quincy, and the people there asked for help. My group was the only one that showed.” she could hear him struggling to keep his voice steady, “We were able to hold them off initially, but it wasn’t enough. We asked for reinforcements, but we never even heard from anyone. The Gunners took Quincy, and killed Colonel Hollis, so I was in charge of the survivors. We didn’t find a safe place to settle. Until now.”  


Claudia soaked in the words before she said anything. When she spoke her words were careful, “I think the Minutemen can make a comeback. They can be the good guys again. As long as you don’t give up.”  


“I’m not about to give up,” he said, finally turning to look at her, “that’s why I’m talking to you. I… I can’t rebuild the Minutemen, but… I think you can.”  
His words caught her off guard. She was more than willing to join the cause, but leading them was a completely different story.  


“I don’t know if I’m the right person for that, Preston,” she said hesitantly, why can’t you?”  


“I can get my men through a fight, hold a location against all odds, but I can’t lead like that. Besides you helped us in Concord, and have continued to help us even though there wasn'thing in it for you. You helped the people at Tenpines even though you have your own problems to deal with. Selflessness like that has been in short supply around here, and that’s what we need.”  
She took a deep breath and looked across the river. She mulled over the offer in her head. She wanted to do it, she did, but she was worried about how young she was. Before the bombs no one would have ever even thought to give someone her age this kind of offer.  


“But I have no experience with this,” she tried to argue.  


“No leader does their first time,”  


“I’m only twenty-two. Don’t you think that’s too young to do this?”  


Preston apparently didn't care. He insisted, “I’ll help you along the way. I know I’m asking a lot, but the Minutemen need someone like you.”  


She didn't answer for a moment. His words shooed away her apprehension. He was giving her the chance to do something truly good, and she didn't want to turn it down. As long as she had help…  


“Alright. I’ll do it.”  


A look of disbelief crossed his face, “Really?”  


“Yeah,” she nodded, her voice full of determination.  


He smiled, “I’ll be right behind you the whole way… General.”  


“General?”  


“The leader of the Minutemen has always held the rank of General. Our last leader was General Becker. He died back in ‘82. The one good thing about being the last Minuteman is no one is going to argue with me putting you in charge.”  


“So, what rank does that make you?”  


“Well… the second highest rank is major, but I guess now it depends on what you say?”  


“Major it is then.”  


He smiled. This was probably the most Claudia had seen him smile in the week she had known him.  


“So, what now General Flynn?”  


“Well Major Garvey, I say we rest tonight, and decide our next action in the morning.”  


“Good plan ma’am.”  


Coupled with the physical exhaustion from the events of the day, and the goodness she did. That night she got the best sleep she had since waking up in the wasteland.  


***

  


_Almost feel bad for these little guys. Almost_ , she thought, nudging a dead mole rat with her toe.  


There wasn't a cloud in the sky, as the sun shone brightly. A brisk breeze threw around debris and dead plant matter. The air was cool against her face. It was the perfect weather for outdoors work.  
She had cleared the drive-in theatre just outside of Concord in order to create a new settlement. Preston had taken on the duty of helping a farm down south with some raiders. Even though she was in charge of him, he had insisted she do an easier task today if she insisted on doing Minutemen duties. Especially after he saw how drained she was from Corvega.  


It ended up taking Claudia and Sturges longer to haul all of the stuff they needed down to the drive-in than it did to clear it in the first place. After a few hours of working on the radio they decided to take a break. They sipped on purified water, courtesy of Codsworth, in the shade of the shack against the hill. Claudia took this as an opportunity to sate her curiosity.  


“Hey, Sturges, can I ask you a question?”  


“Sure,” he said.  


“What’s a ghoul? I keep hearing people talk about them, but I have no idea what they are,” she admitted.  


“Well,” he explained, “they’re just irradiated people. But there are different kinds. Some ghouls are like you an’ me. The only difference is they look different and live longer, assumin’ they don’t get hurt. Then there are ferals. Those are the ones you keep hearin’ about. The radiation rotted their brains, makin’ them go insane.”  


“So these “ferals,” are basically zombies?” she asked.  


“Basically.”  


“If the others are like us, then why are they called the same thing? They sound pretty different to me.”  


“‘Cause people don’t like ‘em. People don’t seem to understand the difference. No matter how drastic. I don’t understand it honestly.”  


“Glad to know humanity hasn’t changed,” she said sarcastically.  


“And it goes farther than just names. The only large settlement I know of that allows ‘em to live there is Goodneighbor. Which is a damn shame. ‘Specially since livin’ in there is only half a set better than gettin’ gnawed on by radroaches.”  


Sadly, she understood why they were not allowed to live in nice places. It was prejudice. Even though she hated it, humanity had always been prejudiced. After all that’s what led to the internment camps.  


“What’s so bad about Goodneighbor?”  


“Ain’t nothin’ there but chems and mercenaries. People there will most likely wind up dead to one or the other if they stay too long.”  


She wrinkled her nose, “Lovely.”  


“Still beats gettin’ torn to shreds by raiders. If only a little bit.”  


“So, only go to this place in the case of an absolute emergency?”  


“Pretty much,” he shrugged.  


She hoped that it wouldn't come to that if he wasn't exaggerating.  


***

  


Preston returned just before the residents of Sanctuary started to head to bed the next day. He looked a little worse for wear, but pleased. All that really mattered was that he was alive, and not seriously injured of course.  


“General,” he said in greeting.  


“Hey, Preston. You know you don’t have to call me that, right?” Claudia asked.  


He merely shrugged in response, “I have news for you.”  


“I hope it’s good news.”  


“It is.” he smiled, “The people at Oberland Station have decided to join us. This means we’re large enough to start having communication problems, but that’s a good thing.”  


“How is that a good thing?” she asked, frowning. In her experience poor communication just led to disaster.  


“It gives us a damn good reason to take back The Castle, the old Minutemen HQ. It’s well fortified, centrally located, and best of all, it has a strong radio tower that can broadcast all over the Commonwealth,” he explained.  


“Oh. Yeah that sounds like a good thing.”  


“So are we gonna do it?”  


“Do you think we can get enough people to attack it?”  


“I have to talk to some people, but yeah. Especially since it wasn’t raiders or gunners that took it.”  


“Who took it then?” she asked.  


“I’m not sure how true it is, but apparently a sea monster attacked. My guess is mirelurks.”  


“What’s a mirelurk?” she asked. She felt a little embarrassed having to constantly ask what everything. She felt like a little kid. She was thankful that she had wound up with such an understanding group.  


“I think you would have called them… crabs?”  


She burst out laughing, “They lost a ‘well fortified’ place to a bunch of crabs?”  


“It was before my time, so I have no idea… so are we going to do this?”  


“Yeah, let’s do this, but we should wait until tomorrow morning. You need to rest, and I want to have as much energy as possible for this. That’s an order,” she joked.  


“You won’t regret this ma’am!” he said turning towards the house he had claimed.  


***

  


The next morning Preston was nowhere to be found. When she could not find him she sought out Sturges.  


“Have you seen Preston anywhere?”she asked.  


“He left about an hour ago. Said you guys were gonna take back The Castle. Why?”  
Her jaw dropped. He had already left. She felt stupid for not telling him to wait for her. She could not blame him for leaving as soon as possible. She had seen the excitement hidden beneath his professionalism. 

Now she was going to have to deal with the repercussions for her lack of communication.  


“I have no idea where I’m going.” she sighed, “Preston never pointed it out on any map.”  


“I have kind of an idea of where it is, if that’s any help,” he offered.  


After he showed her the area where it was located he said, “Unless you want to stop by Diamond City on the way, I suggest you stay out of the main city. Can be real dangerous at times.”  


“Thanks, Sturges.”  


Before she started heading out she filled her pack to the brim with extra clothes, water, food, medical supplies, caps, and everything else she thought she would need. The trip to The Castle was going to be a long one, and she didn't want to take any chances. She strapped her shotgun she had gotten thanks to the raiders to her back, and placed a combat knife in a makeshift sheath at her hip. Pistol in hand she started to make her way out of Sanctuary.  


She thought about bringing Dogmeat with her for a moment, but ultimately decided against it. She didn't want to wear him out, and without her and Preston there someone needed to guard the place.  
The day was cooler than the ones before it, almost too cold. Clouds were on the horizon, signaling a storm. Claudia wondered if the rain would be radioactive like the rivers were.  


As she headed southwest towards the Charles river she saw various wild animals in the distance from a pack of wild mongrels to a two-headed deer. They never got too close for comfort though, making for an uneventful journey. Until she got to Cambridge.  


When Sturges had told her to stay out of the city she thought he had meant Boston itself. She was wrong. After a few minutes of making her way between crumbling buildings she was greeted by an irate group of raiders. Luckily for Claudia they were too high to actually do anything, so she was able to take them out with ease. That should have, however, been taken as a sign of things to come.  


The mid afternoon sun added only a small amount of warmth as she made her way towards the river. When she got close enough to see the river she heard gruff, manly voices that didn't sound quite human. They sounded like a stereotypical voice of an ogre or something similar. She didn't realize how close that comparison was until she saw the source of the voices.  


They came from her left, down the street that intersected the one she was walking along. They walked like men and had similar muscle structure, but they very obviously were not. The biggest indicator was their green skin, and their sheer size didn't help matters.  


She froze, unsure what to do. She had no idea what they were, and if they were dangerous, and if they were, how dangerous. She was starting to think she should just ask for a list of things that could kill her other than disease or radiation.  


She decided it was probably for the best to just sneak past them and conserve ammo. After all she was meeting Preston to take down some mutated crabs. Luck wasn't in her favor this time, however, because they heard her next step crunch loudly against the broken pavement.  


“A HUMAN!” one roared.  


“LET’S KILL IT!” shouted another.  


She took off down the street like a rocket. They didn't seem to mind chasing down their prey. She forgot Sturges’s warning and dashed across the bridge that spanned the river. She ducked into the city hoping to lose them. They were fast and seemed to be incredibly strong, but she hoped they were not agile or clever.  


After what felt like an eternity of chasing her through the maze of buildings, she was able to lose them by hiding in a hole in a wall. She took shallow breaths trying to remain as quiet as possible as they passed. She prayed that they didn't find her in her hiding spot. She had a feeling she was as good as dead if they did.  


Once she was sure they were gone a broken sob escaped her. The reality of her situation slammed into her like a truck. The world she had known was gone. Her family and friends were gone. The people who would hold her, and tell her that everything would be alright were gone. The world she had known had died, and this terrible world plagued by radiation, raiders, mutated creatures, and who knows what else had taken its place. As her cries escalated it got to the point where she fell out of the hole and threw up. The horror of this new world got to her.  


After a while she straightened up and wiped her face clean. She had lost much, yes, but she would be damned if she gave up so soon. She took a few deep breaths, and then started to make her way through the city.  


She cursed herself for running into there with such reckless abandon. She had not spent much time exploring Boston before the bombs, and the destruction didn't help matters. The map and compass only served to confuse her.  


Just as she was about to give up, and try and find another hole to bunker down in for the night, she saw an odd, blue glow reflecting off the old metal of a building that seemed to have been inhabited recently. As she turned towards the source, she realized it was the familiar coldness of neon. Then she spotted the sign. “Goodneighbor” it read.  


_I think this counts as an emergency_ , she thought as she walked through the door of the makeshift wall.

She quickly opened the door, and stepped inside. Resting against the door with her back to it she took in the tiny town. She had been to Scollay Square once before the war, and toured The Old State House. She marveled at the condition of the old building for a moment. She was brought back down into the harsh reality when a dirty, roughed up man approached her. 

“Hey! You new to Goodneighbor? Can’t go walking around without insurance,” he said as he took a drag off of his cigarette. 

“Insurance?” she asked. Her voice came out smaller than she intended. In another life she would have kicked herself, but at this point she was far too overwhelmed to care. 

“Yeah, insurance. The kind where you give me everything in your pockets, and there won’t be any ‘accidents.’ Big, bloody ‘accidents’,” he sneered. 

Before she react a man with the graveliest voice she had ever heard interjected. He strode up to the man accosting her, and said, “Woah, woah, woah. Time out. Someone steps through the gate the first time, they’re a guest. You lay off that extortion crap.” 

“What’d you care? She ain’t one of us.” 

“No love for your mayor, Finn? I said let her go,” the mayor said. From where she was standing, she could see there was something wrong with his eyes and skin and… did he not have a nose? 

“You’re soft, Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there’ll be a new mayor.” 

“Come on, man. This is me we’re talking about. Let me tell you something,” Hancock said, taking a step closer to the man. He placed a hand on the man’s shoulder in a friendly way, and then, to Claudia’s horror, proceeded to stab him in the gut. She watched in shock as he stared down at the now dead body. 

“Now why’d you have to go, and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here. You alright sister?” he asked as he turned to her. He took a step closer to her. 

She felt her mouth gape open as she looked at him. His skin was burned, and falling off in patches. She was right when she thought he didn't have a nose. He had just two holes where it should have been. Both the irises and the scleras of his eyes were black. It took her brain a moment to process what she was seeing. He must be a ghoul. She shut her mouth when she realized her expression must have looked rude, but it was hard not to stare. It looked so painful to be like that. 

She blinked dumbly a few times before answering, “You… you killed him.” 

“Got a good pair of eyes on ya. I think you’ll fit in here,” he drawled, “but don’t let this incident taint your view of our community. Goodneighbor’s of the people the people, for the people. Everyone’s welcome. You feel me?” 

She was having a hard time paying attention. It was too much to take in at once. She let out a shaky breath, “I, uh, yeah. Yeah.” 

“Good. Just remember who’s in charge, and don’t be afraid to stop by for whatever you need,” he said, before he started to walk away. 

Her brain hung that last part. What she needed was someone who could help her get to the Castle. A body guide or… 

“Wait,” she called. He turned to face her. The skin above his eyebrow was molded in a way that must have been his way of raising an eyebrow. 

She took a deep breath, “Do you know of any guns for hire?” 

He smiled at her, “I know just the guy.”


	2. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MacCready gets a deal too good to pass up, even if the new boss is a little naive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment about what you did or did not like! I can always use the feedback!

MacCready sighed inwardly. Winlock and Barnes had tracked him down in an attempt to harass him out of the Commonwealth… again. He would not give in to them; he had too much on the line. He was just getting really tired of this. 

“Can’t say I’m surprised to find you in a dump like this, MacCready,” Winlock said far too smugly for MacCready’s liking. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a girl slip into the room behind them. _Great_ , he thought, _I’m gonna lose another fucking job to these assholes_. 

“I was wonderin’ how long it would take your bloodhounds to track me down, Winlock. It’s been almost three months… don’t tell me you're getting rusty,” MacCready said nonchalantly, “Should we take this outside?” 

“It ain’t like that I’m just here to deliver a message,” Winlock said. MacCready narrowed his eyes at that. 

“In case you forgot I left the Gunners for good.” 

“Yeah, I heard, but you’re still taking jobs in the Commonwealth. That isn’t going to work for us.” 

MacCready was quickly losing his patience. They were getting on his last nerves, so he tried to get on theirs, “In case you forgot, I don’t take orders from you… not anymore. So why don’t you take your girlfriend, and walk out of here while you still can.” 

That managed to rile Barnes up, who had otherwise been silent the whole time. “What?! Winlock, tell me we don’t have to listen to this shit,” he said angrily. 

Winlock’s attitude changed from smug to pissed. “Listen up, MacCready,” he said threateningly, “the only reason we haven’t filled your body full of bullets is that we don’t want a war with Goodneighbor. See, we respect other people’s boundaries… we know how to play the game. It’s something you never learned.” 

“Glad to have disappointed you,” MacCready said sarcastically. 

Winlock scoffed, “You can play the tough guy all you want. But if we hear you’re still operating in Gunner territory all bets are off.” 

“You finished?” 

“Yeah… we’re finished. Come on, Barnes.” 

As they left the room the girl, who MacCready had almost forgotten about, watched them warily. MacCready eyed her. Although she wasn't wearing the trademark jumpsuit, everything about her screamed vault dweller. From the nervous look on her face to the pip-boy strapped to her arm. From what he could see she lacked any real scars, and the damage she had was recent. She was also paler than almost anyone he had ever seen showing a lack of sun exposure. Her chin length red hair was neater than the average wastelander. Although her short height didn't help her look older, she had to be somewhere around his own age, making her lack of scars all the more telling. He wondered what could drive her from her vault to look for help in a bar. The only one he heard of in the Commonwealth that still had people in it was 81. The vault that apparently had no experiment. 

“Look lady,” he said, bringing her attention to him, “if you’re preachin’ about the Atom, or lookin’ for a friend, you’ve got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun… then maybe we can talk.” 

“It’s a good thing I do then… but who were they?” 

Her voice caught him off guard. It was far lower and slightly raspier than he had been expecting, and even more shocking to him, it practically oozed confidence. 

“Just some moron Gunners. Idiots couldn’t hit a squirrel with a rocket launcher. Nothin’ you need to worry about. What about you? How do I know takin’ your offer won’t come back to bite me?” 

She didn't answer his question. Instead she asked, “Do you take long term jobs?” 

The longer she stood there the more intrigued he became. _What the hell is she planning?_ He replied, “Depends. How long the job is, compensation, and what the job is all matter.” He tried to not be too picky about jobs, but some weren't worth it. Especially the longer ones. 

She nodded, “I… I lead a rather dangerous life. I need someone who can watch my back, and is willing to go take down raiders, Gunners, and anything else I’m sent to take care of. I’m also… I guess you could say new to the area, so I don’t really know my way around.” 

Although it was nice to know what he was going to have to do, her description of the job just raised more questions. Was she also a mercenary? Who was sending her to do this stuff? Who was she? 

She continued, “As for compensation… I’ll pay for all your ammo, food, water, alcohol when clean water isn’t available, and medical supplies. Any loot we find and payment we receive will be split equally. Along with any initial payment you request.” 

The more she talked the more confused he became. So far it was a hell of an offer, but he wanted to know why she wanted his help so badly. The way she spoke also confused him. The way she worded things made her sound like some pre-war holotapes he had found once. 

“As for time… I don’t know how long the job will last, just that it will be a long time. You can leave whenever you want though,” she finished. 

This was probably the best offer he had ever gotten. He normally didn't try to care about the boss’s personal life or who they were, as long as they weren't a raider boss. He had some standards. This girl though was just so damn enigmatic, too much for his liking. 

“That’s a heck of an offer, but I’ve gotta make sure it’s not too good to be true, so I’ve gotta ask. Who are you exactly?” 

Her back straightened, shoulders went back, and she held her a head a little higher. A pose of confidence. “Claudia Flynn. General of the Minutemen… and survivor of Vault 111.” 

He had assumed she was a vault dweller from the get go, so that didn't surprise him. He didn't recognize the number, though, which concerned him a little if he was being honest. Dwellers could be down right insane at times. He decided not to ask about it. Instead he focused on the fact that she claimed to be the general of the Minutemen. 

“Minutemen? I thought you guys were destroyed in Quincy.” 

“We’re rebuilding,” she said simply. 

“But what’s the general doin’ hiring a merc?” 

“There aren’t very many of us right now, and I want to help as much as possible, but I’m sure you know it isn’t exactly safe to travel alone. I will also have to… deal with more… personal matters. I don’t want to use Minutemen resources where they aren’t needed. Especially now,” she explained. 

That was the first time she had said something that actually answered more questions than created them, although the "personal matters" were cause for some. He mulled over all the information or a moment. He'd taken far, far worse jobs. He’d be crazy to not act on the offer, even if it meant being more altruistic than he was used to. If she wanted to spend all her caps on him, who was he to say no? Besides if she really was the general of the Minutemen it would be a great way to get back at the Gunners for harassing him so damn much. And maybe, just maybe he could get her to…. He cleared the thought from his head before it gave him too much hope. 

“Alright, hotshot. Sounds like a good deal, so if you pay the hiring price, you’ve got a new gun on your side.” 

“How much?” 

“Two-hundred fifty caps. No room for bargainin’.” 

“Fair enough,” she said before setting her pack down on one of the ratty couches. She produced three leather pouches, two larger and one smaller. As she handed them over she said, “One hundred each in the bigger ones. Fifty in the smaller one.” 

He held the bags in his hands for a moment, and looked at her before saying, “You just bought yourself an extra gun. Where to first boss?” 

She started fiddling with her pip-boy before she said anything. He had always wondered just how useful those things were. She held out her arm when she was done, so he could see the map depicted on the small screen. 

“We need to get to here,” she said, indicating the marker on the coast, “Can you get us there?” 

“Shouldn’t be too hard.” 

“Alright,” she said. A look of determination and confidence took over her face. “Is there a hotel or something here? We should rest before we head out.” 

He was taken aback by her liberal uses of "we" and "us." Usually there was a strict dichotomy of "you" and "me." Maybe it was just the Minuteman in her. 

“There’s the Hotel Rexford. Not great, but it beats sleeping on the street by a long shot.” 

“Then we’ll stay there for the night, and head out in the morning.” 

“Whatever you say boss,” he said. He tried to hide his excitement, but it had been a while since he had slept somewhere other than the back room of the Third Rail for a while. He was eager to see his new boss act on her promise of free boarding. 

***

The next morning he met his boss in the lobby of the hotel. She had paid for two separate rooms, allowing him to have more privacy than he had had in a while. He used it to sleep as peacefully as one could in Goodneighbor. 

He walked up to her as she messed with her pip-boy. Now that he could see her in proper lighting, instead of the neon red at the bar, it was even more apparent she wasn't some random wastelander. Her face, neck and hands had minimal grime on them. She had a few blemishes here and there, but they were hardly noticeable. She lacked the gauntness and weariness that everyone seemed to have. She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't seem to notice him until he said something. 

“Boss,” he greeted. 

“Hm? Oh MacCready!” she said, finally looking up from her arm. 

“Don’t tell me you forgot about me,” he joked. Well, he hoped it came across a joke. When it came down to it he didn't care whether his bosses liked him or not, but it certainly didn't hurt if they did. 

Luckily for him, she smiled. He tried not to stare, but he could not help it. They weren't perfect by any means, but she had the straightest, whitest teeth he had ever seen. 

He knew that vaults could be some of the most terrifying places in the world. Having grown up just outside of Vault 87 solidified that knowledge. But he wondered what could have driven her away from her own. She looked healthier than anyone he had seen, so there must have been some sort of luxury there. 

Her voice shook him from his thoughts, “Ready to go?” 

“Whenever you are, boss.” 

As they made their way through Goodneighbor she asked, “Do you want to stock up on anything before we leave?” 

He didn't hesitate to take her up on her offer. "Could always use more ammo." 

"Anything else?" she asked, friendlier than he was used to and that he liked. 

_Must be the first time she's ever hired a merc_ , he thought to himself. Her friendliness was better than the way he has been treated by other people, but he had found that when people you didn't know well were this nice to you they were up to no good. Then again who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

"Nothing else that I can get here," he said. 

"What kind of ammo do you use?" 

".308." 

He watched her as she walked up to trade with KL-E-0. The boss had a funny look on her face when she introduced herself. When she was done with the trade she handed him one of the boxes of ammo. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

"How many caps do you have?" he half whispered. Bullets weren't cheap. 

"Doesn't matter. Besides I didn't just pay with caps. Threw some .38s in there too." 

He decided not to press the matter further. If she was loaded _and_ knew how to barter, he wasn't going to complain. 

When they finally left Goodneighbor he took point, remembering part of his job was guiding her through the ruins. It felt odd taking point, since he was a sniper. He was used to hanging back, not leading the charge. 

It wasn't long before they encountered a small pack of mongrels. Normally he would just try to skirt around them, not wanting to waste his ammunition on them, but that wasn't the case this time. His strong suit was long range, but he was still decent in close quarters. The boss on the other hand seemed to have no issue fighting so close. She took them down quickly and easily, despite the frown she wore as she did so. MacCready wasn't an easy person to impress, but she got pretty damn close. 

He led them to the docks. He hated the ocean, but it was safer to travel along the water than to try to navigate the city. 

They were quiet as they walked. Realization struck him. He had no idea what they were up to. 

“So, why exactly are we heading to South Boston?” he asked. It was common knowledge that there wasn'thing but trouble there. It didn't help that the only settlement that was there had been rumored to be wiped out by institute synths. When it came to threats, he took them very seriously, no matter how far fetched it seemed. He had learned that the hard way. 

“I… I didn’t tell you, did I?” She sighed in frustration, seemingly towards herself, “We’re heading to what… my second in command called The Castle. Apparently it used to be the old headquarters. We’re going to take it back.” 

He simply nodded. He noticed how her voice kept trailing off, like she was unsure or lost in thought. He tried to not put too much thought into it. It was best to not to get too invested in who the boss was. No matter how interesting a person they seemed to be. All he needed was the basic information to make sure he wasn't risking too much. 

When they got to the end of the dock she stopped, and stared into the distance. She checked her pip-boy, then turned to MacCready, and asked, “Can I borrow your binoculars?” 

“Sure, boss,” he said, handing them over. 

When she was done she handed them back and pointed towards a squat, grey building, barely visible in the mist. She said, “You see that, in the distance?” 

“Yeah,” he said, holding the binoculars up to his own eyes. 

“Pretty sure that’s where we need to go,” she said. 

They weaved their way through the buildings. Here following the water line would take too much time, and he had heard rumors of ferals infesting the factories in the area. They managed to avoid the raider camps. Their spotlights acted more like beacons, signaling to stay away. 

He stopped in his tracks when a horrendous smell hit his nose. It was the smell of decaying flesh that had been sitting in the sun. He signaled to the boss to stop. She gave him a quizzical look as he brought up his rifle. He looked through the scope, and found the source of the smell. Super mutants, and their disgusting bags of meat. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked in a low voice. 

“Super mutants.” 

“What’s a super mutant?” 

He turned to look at her like she had just insisted the sky was neon pink. “What the fu- what do you mean, ‘what’s a super mutant?’” he asked. He knew vault dwellers were sheltered, literally, but surely they knew a super mutant was. 

“I mean that I don’t know what it is,” she explained. 

“How do you not know what they are?” 

"No one's told me," she shrugged. 

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Her friendliness had been one thing, not knowing basic knowledge was another. He began to wonder just how naive she was. He reminded himself of all the benefits of the job before he said anything else. 

“They’re big, green, dumb, and ugly. And very dangerous,” he explained he sounded harsher than he had intended, but he didn't care at the moment. 

“That’s what they’re called?” she gasped. 

_Ok, so she isn’t totally fucking clueless_ , he thought. MacCready could be surprisingly patient, he was a sniper after all. The majority of his time spent sniping was waiting. But he had very little patience when it came to a lack of basic knowledge. For adults anyhow. He could understand a five-year-old not knowing everything about the wastes, children required patience, but an adult? Even if she was a vault dweller he felt like she should know the very basics. _Fuck, am I in for a long ride_ , he thought. 

He looked around them for a route that would not bring them too close to the mutants. He spotted a path that strayed away from them, but would wind up bringing them awfully close to a raider camp. He would rather deal with raiders than mutants any day. 

“Follow me,” he whispered, “we’re gonna have to deal with some raiders, but it’ll be an easier fight.” 

“Don’t need to convince me,” she said. 

Together they quietly made their way closer and closer to the raider camp. It was still early in the day, but the raiders were already drunk and high off their asses. Better for them. 

Just as he had suspected they noticed them, but before they could do anything the boss reacted like lightning. 

“Cover me!” she ordered over her shoulder. She shot down one raider before she slammed the butt of her gun into the next one’s face. She ducked and dodged the one with a switchblade. The two of them took down the camp in no time. The fight against the mongrels had been one thing, the way she handled the raiders was something else. 

He watched her as she patted down their bodies looking for loot. She handed him exactly half of the caps, stimpaks, and radiation medications she found. 

“You weren’t fu-kidding about splitting everything equally,” he laughed. 

“I mean what I say,” she shrugged, “let’s get going if there’s nothing you want.” 

“Let’s get goin’ then, boss,” he said, leading the way. 

When they got to the road that led right up to The Castle a man standing outside an old diner on the side called to the boss. 

“General Flynn! Over here!” he called. 

“Hey, Garvey!” she called back as she walked toward the diner. 

Inside they were greeted by three more people. The man who had greeted the boss, Garvey, said, “Everyone’s here, General.” 

He fought himself to keep his mouth shut. They were only going to attack this place with six people? Were they joking? 

”This is Scott McNiall, Serena Martinelli, and Leon Whittle,” Garvey said introducing them, “Everyone this is General Claudia Flynn, and…” 

“This is MacCready, he’s a mercenary I hired along the way. I don’t want to spread resources too thin,” she said. 

“I see,” he responded, clearly not particularly happy about the decision, but he didn't say anything more about it. Instead he turned around towards the stone building. 

“Impressive isn’t it? It’s real name is Fort Independence, but the Minutemen always just called it the Castle. Now you can see why I wanted to take it back.” 

“Definitely. For a six hundred year old, Revolutionary era fort, it’s in pretty good shape.” 

_How does she know what this place is?_ MacCready thought. He tuned back into the conversation just in time for him to hear the boss decide on a plan. 

“Let’s split up and flank them.” 

“Alright then. Let’s go. Try not to draw their attention until we’re in position.” 

As they took their positions the boss turned to him. She asked, “So, what do you think?” 

MacCready raised an eyebrow at her. A boss had never asked what his thoughts were on the job. He usually had to interject if he wanted them to know what he thought. The most anyone ever really asked was if he could do the job. 

“Why do you care?” 

“Uhh… because you’re a person? A person I’m asking to fight with me?” she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“You aren’t asking me to fight, you’re paying me to fight,” he corrected. 

“Still a person. And given that we’re going to be traveling together, I need to make sure you’re doing alright. Can’t do your job if you aren’t focused.” 

He sighed, “Fine. Even though this place could use some work, it’s a pretty good lookin’ stronghold. Better in the hands of the Minutemen, than raiders or Gunners. Anything else you wanted?” 

He winced internally. He hadn't meant to sound _that_ harsh. 

She rolled her eyes, and shook her head with an incredulous smile. He was surprised that she took it so well. 

They settled into their positions. MacCready, the boss, and Garvey took the main gate, while the other three waited for a signal. Once the fighting began, it didn't take very long. Mirelurks had tough shells, but with good enough aim and some distance they were ridiculously easy to take care of. When all that was left in the courtyard was their eggs, the group headed in. 

“Ya know, it would have been nice to know how big those things are,” the boss said. 

“Crabs weren’t that big?” Garvey asked, a little shocked. 

She shook her head no. 

Before he could ask what that meant, he changed the subject, “Damn. Looks like they’ve been nesting.” 

McNiall chimed in, “‘Lurks like to hide in old buildings. Walls are probably full of ‘em.” 

The boss nodded thoughtfully. She looked at the group before turning to MacCready, and asking, “You any good with a pistol?” 

“Better with my rifle, but yeah. Why?” 

“MacCready, Major Garvey, and I will clear out the walls. The rest of you take care of the nests and any remaining Mirelurks,” she said handing him her pistol. Her orders were met with a chorus of ‘yes ma'ams’. 

She took her shotgun from it’s handmade holster on her back, and headed towards the building. The two men followed closely behind. Lucky for them it was mostly softshells and hatchlings inside the walls. They were easier to take down than the average mirelurk. When they reached the old general’s quarters they weren't only met with what ended up being a face full of mirelurk slime, but also a missile launcher. 

MacCready let out a low wolf whistle as she picked it up. 

“Now look at this beauty,” he said. 

She looked at Garvey with confusion. “How did they lose this place when they had this thing, and all these missiles?” 

“Beats me. Like I said. They lost this place before my time.” 

Just then the ground shook with a loud rumbling. The Minutemen outside started yelling. 

“The hell…” she wondered out loud. 

One of the Minutemen yelled for them to come see whatever was causing the chaos, and the boss took off like a rocket, missile launcher in hand. He and Garvey quickly followed suit. MacCready grabbed some extra missiles before leaving, just to be safe. 

Outside they were met by what could only be a mirelurk queen rising out of the water and over the rubble. He had never seen one before, but he had heard about them. It was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen, and that was saying something. It was only slightly shorter than the intact walls of the fort. It made a god awful clicking noise as acid spewed from its mouth. He was almost completely paralyzed with fear, though he would never admit it. 

The boss on the other hand had more resolve. She shouted at everyone to get out of the way as she took aim with the launcher. The first missile did decent damage, it only caused the monster of a creature to recoil. The second missile caused it to go careening back into the water where it came from. 

He looked at her in amazement as the others whooped and hollered around them. She stood there with a fire in her eyes as she spoke to them. It took a lot to impress him, but this certainly did the trick. After a show like that he was more willing to put up with her lack of knowledge of the world. Not many people could hold their own in a fight like that, and traveling with someone like that was worth most downsides, even if that downside meant there was a long road ahead.


	3. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia tries to avoid dealing with the events of the past two weeks as she and MacCready fulfill Minuteman duties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some graphic descriptions of violence later in the chapter. Be careful. Thank you for the support!

Claudia leaned against a wall of the Rexford as she waited for MacCready. They had finished at the Castle with just enough time to get back to Goodneighbor. The ultimate goal was to get back to Sanctuary, but it was too far away to reach by nightfall. So they settled at the Rexford for the night. Staying the night there was decidedly better than some random abandoned building. 

She thought about MacCready as she waited for him. He wasn't what she had been expecting when the ghoulified Mayor Hancock had steered her in his direction. Sure, he acted like how she would expect a mercenary to act, for the most part, but she wasn't expecting him to be so _young_. It was a little jarring to her. It was like seeing what she could have become if she had grown up in the wastes. 

“Boss,” MacCready said in greeting, shaking her from her thoughts. 

“Ready?” she asked. 

“When you are.” 

Her nose wrinkled when she stepped out of the hotel. Goodneighbor wasn't exactly the best smelling place in the world. At least it was safer than the ruins that surrounded the place. 

“I gotta ask, boss, why are we goin’ to this place? It’s on the edge of the Commonwealth,” he complained, trying to mask it as a question. 

They had only been traveling together for a day, and she had already noticed how much he tended to complain. They usually came in the form of sarcastic or backbiting comments. She had learned that the hard way when she made him help clean up the Castle. 

“It’s… where I live when I’m not on the road, I guess?” 

“Seems a little far away to be helping people,” he muttered. 

“There’s actually two allied settlements pretty close by, so it’s not as bad as you think,” she said, “Besides it’s safe, and there should be clean drinking water available. For free.” 

He seemed to lighten up a bit at the promise of something free, even if he wasn't the one paying for it. She figured it was because it meant she could afford more ammunition. 

The area around Goodneighbor was eerily peaceful. She closely followed him as he weaved through the ruined buildings. He paused every now and then to listen and watch for threats. They got to the Charles River in a surprising amount of time. He led them down the river all the way to the train tracks that spanned across it. It wasn't the most direct route, but it was certainly one of the safest. 

When they got to the tracks Claudia took point. She looped around the farm that the tracks ran through, wary of the robots that were working there. From there they made their way along them until they reached the newly established settlement of Starlight. 

A lone figure sat working at a water pump. When he noticed the pair, he reached for his gun. In response MacCready readied his rifle. 

“Who are you, and what do you want?” the man demanded. 

“Put your gun down, MacCready,” Claudia whispered. 

He looked at her as if she was crazy, but followed her orders. 

“Don’t worry, we’re friendly. I’m Claudia Flynn, General of the Minutemen. We’re just passing through,” she said calmly. 

Her words seemed to soothe him. He still looked a bit wary, but he lowered his gun. 

“General, huh? Sorry I pulled my gun on ya, especially since I should be thanking you for an opportunity like this.” 

“It’s quite alright. It’s a rough world out there,” she said with a small smile. 

“Well, you’ve given me a decent place to set up, so if you and the Minutemen ever need anything just ask.” 

She nodded, “And if you need anything just ask. There’s a place called Sanctuary to the Northwest. Just head there.” 

“I will, and thank you again, for this place.” 

“No problem,” she smiled. She shot a look at MacCready. He was watching the man warily as they walked across the cracked pavement. His rifle was ready to be fired at a moment’s notice. 

“He pulled a gun on us, and you just let him go?” he muttered. 

“He didn’t know who we are,” she shrugged, “besides this kinda stuff is going to happen a lot. I’ve noticed people aren’t quick to trust. Even when you’re trying to help them.” 

“Noticed? No shi- kidding, boss. If you haven’t noticed the wasteland isn’t like that vault you came from. You’re gonna get killed if you aren’t suspicious of everyone.” 

She frowned at him. She could handle the complaining. The more sarcastic comments could be funny. She couldn't, on the other hand, handle him treating her like she was an idiot. She was new to the world, not a dunce. 

She rolled her eyes in response. 

“Yeah, I noticed,” she said sarcastically, “I’m not an idiot you know? Just new to the Commonwealth. If you have an issue with it you can leave.” 

His eyes widened at that, seemingly caught off guard by her sudden change of tone. She hoped he didn't take her up on her offer. At least not until she had someone else to follow her across the wasteland. 

“No, no. Just trying to offer some advice,” he said, verbally backing off. 

She relaxed slightly. She was thankful he didn't walk off on her, but she wondered why. She decided not to ask, because she figured whatever the reason was it was good enough for her. 

She led the way through Concord. As they got closer to Sanctuary she relaxed more and more, but she didn't let her guard down. She doubted any raiders would be there for a while, but the wildlife was a different story. 

As they crossed the bridge that spanned the river that wound around the island Sanctuary sat on, MacCready completely stopped walking. 

“What is this place?” he asked, almost completely in awe. 

She raised an eyebrow at him. His tone seemed out of character from the very little that she knew about him, but it also made her feel a bit sad. When she looked at the dilapidated houses all she saw was the ghost of a once beautiful neighborhood. A painful reminder of a past she was still avoiding coming to terms with. 

“Sanctuary.” 

“A bit on the nose, don’t you think?” 

“It always has been,” she said wistfully. She started walking again before he could respond. He had to lightly jog to catch up to her again. 

After a few steps off of the bridge Dogmeat bounded up to her. His tail wagged at a frankly ridiculous speed. Seeing how happy he was to see her made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

“Hey, boy. Did you miss me?” she asked as she scratched just behind his ear, causing him to thump his foot on the ground. 

She smiled up at them, saying, “This is Dogmeat. He helped me clear out Concord and Corvega.” 

“You cleared out Corvega?” he asked with wide eyes. 

“Yeah. Given how easy it was, I’m surprised no one else had,” she said straightening back up. The moment she did Dogmeat started to aggressively sniff MacCready. She tried to stifle her laughter at his worried look. 

“Should I be worried?” he asked. 

She shook her head, “He’s just trying to make sure you’re not an enemy is all.” 

When Dogmeat seemed to be satisfied with his assessment he bounded off back towards the heart of Sanctuary. She watched him run off with a smile. 

“Seems like you passed the test.” 

“Yay me,” he said sarcastically. 

As they got closer to the house that had the workbenches stationed outside of it they caught Sturges’s attention. 

“Hey, General!” he greeted enthusiastically, looking up from the turret he was working on. The table littered with various tools and pieces of the turret. A protective mask was pulled up on top of his head instead of covering his face. 

“Hey, Sturges.” 

“I hope you’re here ‘cause things went well at the Castle,” he said hopefully. 

“Yeah. I can say with full confidence that the mirelurk infestation has been dealt with. Oh, and the old radio station is up and working again,” she said triumphantly. 

“Looks like things are finally startin’ to look up, thanks to you.” 

She smiled awkwardly at the praise, but before she could say anything he changed the subject. 

“I see you’ve made a new friend too.” he gestured towards MacCready, who had been standing behind her silently. 

“oh, yeah, this is MacCready,” she said, turning towards him, “he’s going to be helping me make my way across the Commonwealth. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. A friend of General’s is a friend of mine.” 

MacCready merely nodded in acknowledgement. She frowned at him. 

“How long do you think you’ll be stickin’ around for?” 

“I don’t know,” she answered, “until someone needs us, I guess?” 

“So, not very long then.” 

She sighed. She had been hoping they could get some rest before they had to go somewhere else. The journey from Goodneighbor hadn't been hard, but it had been long. 

“Did someone come by while we were gone?” 

“Yeah. One of the Abernathy’s. Said they needed some help with raiders. They’ve got a farm just south of here built around an old electrical tower. Can’t miss it.” 

“I know where that is. Thanks for passing along the message, Sturges.” 

“No problem. Also, where’s Preston?” 

“Oh. He stayed behind at the Castle. Wanted more people to be there before he left.” 

He nodded thoughtfully before beginning to work on the turret again. 

She turned back to MacCready. 

“I want to repack my bag before we head out,” she explained. 

“You sure we should head out today, boss? Sun’s gonna start setting soon.” 

“We should have enough time to at least find a place for the night.” 

“If you say so,” he grumbled. 

She rolled her eyes in response as she headed towards her house. Inside she emptied her pack of everything she didn't need and refilled the things she did. She noticed he didn't follow her inside. She looked over her shoulder to find him awkwardly leaning against the door frame. 

“You know you can come inside, right?” 

“Don’t want to intrude on your space, boss.” 

She chuckled, “My _space_ is the room on the right side at the end of the hallway. Besides, I’m having you stay across the hall, so this,” she gestured to the room, “now belongs to both of us.” 

“Why? There are other houses.” 

“True, but that’s the only room that has a bed that hasn’t been claimed yet…” she paused, “...it’s also cleaner than the other rooms.” 

She turned away from him, so that he couldn't see her struggling to keep her composure. It had been her grandmother’s room before the bombs. She had torn that room apart the day after she woke up. She had completely gutted the room of everything except a dresser and bed that were both in surprisingly good condition. That room being in a complete state of disarray was the exact opposite of what it had been before the war, and it hurt her too much to look at it like that. 

“Fair enough,” he said walking over to the counter where she was sorting through supplies. 

“I have extra supplies if you need anything,” she said. Her voice was far weaker than she had intended. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him raise an eyebrow at her, but he didn't comment on it. 

“You have any bullets?” 

“Not the kind you use.” 

“Then I’m good.” 

When she was done packing they were on the road again. Claudia led the way through the tall grass. MacCready made snarky comments as they walked about it. Fortunately for him, she thought some of them were amusing. It seemed to her that he knew that he made his constant complaining more bearable if he made it funny. 

They made it to Abernathy Farm in just over half an hour. As they walked closer to the house they were greeted by a man leaning against the railing of the porch. 

“That’s close enough, strangers. We’re a peaceful farm. We don’t want any trouble.” 

“It’s ok,” Claudia said, “We’re friendly. Not looking to cause any trouble.” 

“If you say so. But be warned, we’re armed here, so don’t try anything. Let me tell ya, farmin’ ain’t easy. Out in the field, all day, every day? And every moment of it spent watching your back.” 

“Farmin’s hard work.” 

“Won’t argue with that. Blake Abernathy, you new to these parts?” 

“Uh, no. Not exactly,” she answered hesitantly. 

“Well it’s nice to see a new face. What about you, ever think about working the land?” 

“I’ll probably give a try some day.” She wasn't sure if that was a lie or not. 

“Well, good look to you then. Word of advice though. If you do start up a farm, be ready to deal with the raiders. Why do all the hard work when you can just take what you want at gunpoint?” he demanded. 

“That’s why we’re here actually. I’m Claudia Flynn, general of the Minutemen, here to help,” she explained. It was weird introducing herself like that. It was only the second time she had done it, it felt just as odd. She figured she would get used to it with time. 

Mr. Abernathy nodded carefully, before carrying on. His voice was pained. 

“The last time those raiders hit us, my daughter Mary tried to stand up to them. Now, she’s buried out back of the house. Only twenty-one years old, and they shot her down without a thought. That’s why we need the Minutemen back, and the sooner, the better.” 

Her heart broke at that. She knew better than anyone what it was like to lose a loved one, but thought losing a child was a whole other type of pain. 

“My God… I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child.” 

“I hope I never have to experience that feeling,” MacCready murmured from behind her. His voice was barely audible, and sounded almost sorrowful. She wanted to ask him if he was alright, but she knew that that would be crossing a boundary that should not be crossed. 

“I… I don’t have much to offer, but those raiders that killed Mary took her locket too. It’s been in Connie’s family for generations. It would mean a lot to us if you could get it back for us.” 

“Don’t worry,” she assured him, “we’ll get that locket back for you. And we’ll take care of those raiders. Just tell us where to go.” 

“Thank you. There stationed at a place called Satellite Olivia to the northwest of Concord.” 

“Alright, we’ll head there now.” 

“Thank you again.” 

As they walked away MacCready piped up, “You know, boss, we could have saved a lot of time if you had said you’re a Minuteman from the start? Why did ya let him drone on about farming?” 

“Customer service?” she shrugged. Truth be told, she liked learning about people. 

“Who cares? We’re savin’ their a- butts.” 

“True, but we need support from them, and they’ll support us if we are kind to them,” she explained in an exasperated tone. 

He grumbled something, but she couldn't make out what he said, so she took it as a sign that that conversation was done for the time being. She began to wonder if him being an ex-gunner had anything to do with his attitude. They definitely weren't the nicest people in the world if she was to go off of what she had heard, but they sounded more evil than rude. She knew that greed could be a hell of a motivation, but she doubted anyone that bad would want to join up with a Minuteman. He didn't even seem to be _that_ bad of a person either so far. Sure, he was no saint, but he also didn't seem to be a walking pile of human garbage either. He was grey, and as annoying as it could be, she could work with grey. 

The sound of gunshots in the distance shook her from her thoughts. They were coming from the satellite as they drew nearer to it. It seemed as though MacCready read her mind. Before she could even get out a word to tell him what to do he lifted up his rifle and stared through the scope. 

“Two raiders and an attack dog. Looks like they’re fighting… molerats?” he relayed back to her. 

As soon as he finished speaking an explosion sounded through the air. 

“Uh nevermind,” he said lowering his gun, “who the heck makes a suicide vest for a molerat?” 

She looked at him in pure confusion. 

“Did I-” she started. 

“Yeah, you heard me right,” he interjected. 

“Well… less work for us then,” she said walking off toward the bunker. 

Inside they quietly walked down the stairs, and made sure they didn't trigger the tripwire at the bottom. They wanted to make sure they had the element of surprise on their side. 

When they encountered the first raider, he was in a room by himself with his back to them. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves yet, Claudia quietly sneaked up behind him, and planted her knife in his neck. He made a strangled noise, but it wasn't enough to alert the others. 

The next room was more of an issue. Claudia peaked into the room without being noticed. There were four raiders inside, and one had a minigun. She motioned to MacCready to come towards her. When he was in position she mouthed ‘minigun’ to him. He knew what to do without further instruction. He poked his rifle through the doorway, lining up the shot. The raiders noticed this, but before they could do anything he hit the woman wielding the minigun right between the eyes. Together, Claudia and MacCready dove into the room, and took out the remaining raiders. When they went down, as if on a cue, the remaining inhabitants of the bunker were taken down. 

“Do you think that’s all of them?” she asked.She tried to shake the way killing the raiders made her feel. She knew it was the right thing to do, but she was still getting used to that fact. 

“Should be.” 

“Then let’s start looking for that locket.” 

“Sure thing boss.” 

She turned to the small toolbox at her feet, and opened it. Sure enough the locket laid inside, glinting at her in the dull light. She picked it up. She let it hang from her fingers as she inspected it. 

“That was easy,” MacCready said. 

“No kidding,” she said “do you want to look around before we leave or?” 

He shook his head, “I’m gonna go check how dark it is outside, and have a smoke. It was sunset when we got here, and it’s starting to set faster now that it’s getting closer and closer to late fall.” 

“Alright. I’ll be in the main room when you come back.” 

She scoured around the main room as she waited for him. She found an assortment of loot that she placed on a desk. Most of the ammo she found was either 10mm or 5mm, so she took most of it for herself. Even though she knew he would be happy to claim the minigun as his own, she also knew he would not want to haul it all the way back to Sanctuary. She evenly split the caps, stimpaks, and radiation medications. She left the chems she found alone, not wanting them for herself. She pulled the fusion core from the generator, and placed it on the desk as well. She doubted he had access to power armor, but she didn't want to be greedy. Everything else was either weaponry, or something that could be considered scrap or junk. He could grab that stuff for himself. 

When he came back he had an annoyed look on his face, but it softened at the sight of the various goodies she had found. 

“Too dark to travel,” he said simply. 

“Damn. Well, at least this place should be safe, right?” 

“Except for some exploding molerats, yeah,” he joked. 

She laughed quietly at that. She liked that he was already able to make her laugh easily. Not only did it make it easier to travel with him, it distracted her from the grief she was desperately trying to avoid. 

She picked up the fusion core, “I’m assuming you don’t have access to power armor, so is it alright if I take this?” 

“You have power armor?” 

“Yeah. You didn’t see it at Sanctuary?” 

“Obviously not. Why don’t you wear it?” 

She shook the core in her hand, “Lack of power mostly, but it’s also not in great condition. Sturges is fixing it up.” 

“Then be my guest. Power armor is worth more than a few caps.” 

She placed it securely in her bag. Sturges would be happy with the find. 

They searched the rest of the bunker for anything of value. They found a miniature warhead, which they agreed not to touch. When they finished they returned to the main room to settle down for the night. They sat around a trash can that had a fire burning in it. She pulled some deathclaw jerky Marcy had made from her bag, and started to eat. MacCready pulled some food from his bag as well. She couldn't tell what it was, and decided it was best not to ask. 

After her small dinner she fiddled around with her Pip-Boy. She marked the location of the satellite, and poked around in the settings looking for something interesting. 

MacCready broke the silence, “What’s with you vault dwellers and those Pip-Boys?” 

She looked up at him, “What?” 

“Every vault dweller I’ve heard of has had one. Do you know why Vault-Tec gave them to you?” 

She saddened at the memory of pulling the device from the skeleton's arm. The visions of the vault being full of dead bodies haunted her. She cleared her throat before she spoke. 

“This… wasn't given to me.” 

“What do you mean? They’re one of the few things all the vaults have in common. That, the jumpsuits, and that every single one had some sort of fu- messed up experiment.” He suddenly looked like he regretted what he said. “Sorry, that was probably too far,” he winced. 

She looked at him with wide, sad eyes. She hadn't thought of other vaults before. His mind had been full of other things. 

“Does… does every vault have a different experiment?” she asked quietly. 

“Yeah,” he said in a rather somber tone, “I’m sorry I should not have brought it up. I know how bad vaults can be.” 

She suddenly felt incredibly alone. Everyone she had known was dead. Everyone who had been locked in that vault with her was dead. There was no one who had gone through what she had. No one who could truly understand. 

“Boss?” he asked nervously, “are you good?” 

“I’m fine,” she lied. It was an obvious one, but she wasn't ready to talk about the vault yet, especially not with him. 

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, staring into the fire. 

“If you’re sure…” he said hesitantly. “This place is pretty secure, but I think we should still keep watch. Why don’t you sleep, I’ll keep first watch,” he suggested. 

She nodded in agreement, hoping sleep would keep her from her thoughts. She set up her bed roll silently. Sleep didn't come easily, but it was dreamless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I'm honest I had no idea where I was going with this chapter. Sorry this Chapter took me a bit longer to upload. Thanks again for the support. Every little thing warms my heart!


	4. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boss starts to open up about herself. Just only a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violence warning as usual

MacCready followed the boss as they crossed the bridge into Sanctuary. It had been a week since the Pip-Boy incident, and she seemed to be doing far better. He had been worried that he would lose the job because he did not think before he spoke, although it would not be the first time. That was how he lost his first caravan job. Being stranded in the middle of the wasteland was not fun. 

They were coming back from helping Starlight with raiders. For whatever reason, the northwest Commonwealth was a hotspot for them. He did not complain though. Taking care of raiders was well paying, even if the settlers did not actually pay them. The raiders in this area seemed stupider than the average, making it more like free target practice than work. 

He smiled softly as Dogmeat bounded up to them to say hello. He would not admit it, but he was starting to grow fond of the dog. He watched as his tail wagged wildly as the boss greeted him. She had asked him why he called her that, and not by her name. He had simply shrugged and said that was how he addressed all his bosses. It was true, but it served a purpose as well. It was to help prevent him from getting too attached. After all they say naming something creates a bond. 

He wandered off towards the house as she left to greet the settlers. He did not particularly care for them, and they did not seem to mind him being distant. 

Inside his room he sorted through his newly acquired gear. Other than the safe he had pushed into a corner, it did not look like it belonged to him, or anyone really. The lack of personalization was another thing he did to keep from getting attached. He did not know how long the job would last, though he hoped it would be for the long term. 

He heard a knocking on the door frame. He turned to see the boss standing there, arms folded. 

“When you’re done, we gotta go,” she said. 

He raised an eyebrow at her, “Already?” 

“Yeah. Tenpines needs help… again,” she explained. He could hear the frustration in her voice. This was the third time they had requested help in two weeks. She seemed to like helping people, but this was a bit much for her apparently. 

He sighed, “They should really think about moving at this point.” 

“No kidding. Sturges was going to send some turrets to Starlight, because of how close they are to Lexington. Might have to send them there instead.” 

When he was ready, they took off. The sun was about to start setting when they left. Normally, he did not like leaving that late in the day, especially this time of year, but Tenpines was a short trip. 

When they got there they were greeted by terrified farmers. Whatever had happened was worse than the usual. 

“What’s the problem?” the boss asked curtly. For once she was straight to the point. 

_She must be pretty damn annoyed_ , he thought. 

“Super mutants.” 

That explained a lot. Even though pay would be reduced, he would never complain about taking down super mutants. It would make his life easier in the long run. Besides, it was easier to deal with raiders. At the very least they could be bribed or threatened into submission. Super mutants on the other hand, not so much. 

“We were barely able to hold them off last time. We need your help to defend ourselves.” 

As callous as it was, he was honestly surprised they had survived at all. 

“We’ll take care of them. Do you know where they’re coming from?” 

“No, but they should be coming back tonight.” 

“Alright. If you need us, we’ll be over there,” she said, pointing to the ruins of an old house. 

It did not offer them any shelter other than keeping them up off of the ground, but the lack of walls allowed them to keep watch of their surroundings. They spread out their bedrolls to act like cushions as they sat there waiting. He had not been alone with her like this in over a week. They had managed to get back to Sanctuary by nightfall in the days prior. They spoke to each other, obviously, but it was mostly jokes, snarky comments, and stuff related to the old world he did not understand. They had not had a proper, sit down conversation in over a week. He wanted a way to pass the time, and having a talk like that seemed the best way to do it. 

“Do you know the story of Hercules, or rather, Heracles and his twelve trials?” she asked suddenly. 

“Uh, no? Who the heck is that?” 

“A hero from an old myth. It is, or was, one of the most well known.” 

His curiosity piqued. He raised an eyebrow at her, “You're point?” 

“We’re just waiting around, right? I’m trying to find a way to pass the time,” she explained. It seemed that she had read his mind. 

“By telling me about some old myth?” he asked. 

“By telling you a story.” 

She then proceeded to tell him the story of the old mythical hero, and his most famous legend. She painted a fantastical picture with her voice. The setting was vivid, and the people came to life. The way she spoke made everything seem so real. He could not see the things she described, but he could clearly envision every word that she said. He was completely captured by the story. 

He looked at her in amazement when she finished. She had a good voice in general, but he did not expect her to be such an amazing story teller. He wondered how she learned to tell stories like that, if it had anything to do with the vault. The more he learned about her, the more confused he became. 

“Damn, Boss. Didn’t expect you to be a storyteller.” 

She merely shrugged in response. 

Before he could say anything else he heard a noise in the distance from behind them. He stilled completely, staining to make the noise out. Then he realized what it was. 

“They’re coming,” he said as he readied his rifle. 

She nodded. She grabbed her pistol, and edged past him. They waited with baited breath. The voices grew louder and louder. He stared through his scope, eyebrows furrowed together. The moment the first head popped into his field of view, he pulled the trigger. The bullet buried itself in the mutant’s head. 

The ensuing roars of fury chilled him to the bone. As stupid as they were, they were not a force to be messed with lightly. He felt panic rise in his chest when he saw how many of them there were. Counting the dead one, there were a dozen of them. 

_How the hell did they manage to survive?_ he thought. 

The three with sledgehammers rushed towards them. Two of them fell quickly. MacCready was barely able to take the third before he raised the hammer to slam it down on the boss's head. He could see the fear in her face veiled behind steely resolve. 

Bullets rained down on them. Most of them missed, but he felt one graze his right arm just below the shoulder. 

The fight lasted for what seemed like forever. When it finished he felt his body sag with relief< which was short lived. He heard footsteps coming from behind him. He whirled around to find it was just the farmers. 

They proceeded to thank them profusely, just as they had last time. When they left the boss noticed the darkening cloth on his arm. 

“You’re bleeding,” she said, reaching out slightly. 

He pulled away slightly, “I’ll be fine. It’s just a graze.” He did not want to go through the hassle of dressing the wound with one hand. 

“It’s still an open wound. You could get an infection.” 

“I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s kind of hard to clean up a bullet hole with one hand.” 

“I’ll do it for you,” she offered. 

“Didn’t know you cared about me so much, Boss,” he teased. 

She rolled her eyes in response. 

“You can’t keep me alive if you die. Especially to something stupid like an infection. Just let me clean and bandage it.” 

He sighed in resignation. He sat down and leaned against one of the barely there walls. 

“You're going to need to take off your duster and you’re button up. If your undershirt is a short sleeve you can leave it on,” she explained as if he had never been patched up before. 

He shrugged his first two layers off the wounded shoulder. It was too cold for him to take them off all the way. He rolled the sleeve of his undershirt to give her better access to the wound. She reached out with her left to steady him. He jerked away when her fingertips brushed his shoulder. They were _far_ more calloused than he had been expecting. 

“You okay? Did that hurt?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Your fingers are just rougher than I was expecting,” he confessed. 

“That’s what happens when you play guitar,” she said simply. 

That caught him off guard. Not only was it rare for someone in the wasteland to be able to play an instrument, she was actually talking about herself in a way other than her thoughts on the situation on hand. 

“You can play the guitar?” he asked before he could stop himself. 

“Yeah. I’ve been playing since I was ten.” 

“Well, damn.” 

There were so many other things he wanted to say. A lot of questions. Despite his curiosity, he held back his tongue. He was so intrigued by this mystery woman. Probably too much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is shorter than the others. The next one probably will be too. I didn't want to do an extreme time jump, and I wanted to actually develop their relationship.


	5. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MacCready and Claudia take down Winlock and Barnes. Claudia reveals stuff about herself for once.

MacCready took point as he and the Boss made their way across the wasteland. He was not happy about how far they had to travel. The farm that had called for help was just outside the main city. He thought someone else would have been able to help, given how close it was to Bunker Hill, but the Minutemen were still low on numbers. At the very least they could have said what they were having trouble with. 

It was not all complaints on his part, though. The Boss was a great traveling partner. As confusing and enigmatic she could be, they were getting along incredibly well. There was the small, odd argument every now and then, but other than that, they worked together like a well oiled machine. Despite her naivety and his attitude. Even though he only knew a small bit about her, he was starting to like her as a person. Too much for his comfort. 

It was not a smart idea to get attached to an employer. No matter how well he got along with them. He tried his very best not to, but she was just so damn likable. He would not admit it, but she was the closest thing he had had to an actual friend in a long time. She actually cared about his well being, or at very least she did a good job at making it seem like she did. Which made him all the more worried about the Gunners. 

For the past few months, they had been scaring off almost every single client. It was a miracle he could afford to eat. Ever since the Boss had hired him he had been worried that they would throw a wrench in the works. He doubted she would give in, and fire him because of them. She was a Minuteman after all. That alone made them enemies. No, he was worried about what they might do to her when she did refuse. He tried to convince himself that he was just worried about his job, and not her. 

When the farm came into sight she overtook him. He stood off to the side as she spoke. He did not care to be part of the conversation. They were usually full of useless details about the farmers’ lives. He just wanted to know who they were fighting, and how much of a threat they were. He hoped it was raiders. Even if they were not paid, fighting raiders always brought in a decent amount of caps. 

He was staring at the horizon, tuned out of the conversation, until part of their conversation caught his attention. “Gunners.” The single word sent his mind racing. 

“We’ll take care of them,” he blurted. 

The Boss raised an eyebrow at him. One of them turned to him, fear, but also hope in his eyes. 

“Please do! I’m not sure how much more we can take of this!” 

“Just give us the details,” he said gruffly. He thought for a moment that it might have been a bit mean, but he did not care. The way he felt about the Gunners overpowered most anything else. 

“They show up every other night. We don’t know where exactly they come from other than that it’s from the city. There’s usually three of them, all with laser pistols,” he explained. 

MacCready nodded, “Is tonight one of those nights?” 

“Yes.” 

“They won’t live to see sunrise,” he said coolly. He knew better than anyone how horrible they were. They deserved worse, but he would settle for this. Besides he did not really have it in him to do worse. That was one of the reasons why he left. 

He glared towards the ruins of Boston as the farmers went back to work. The Boss turned to him, a small amount of confusion on her face. 

“That was new,” she said. Her eyebrow was still raised. It was like it was stuck there. 

“Gunners.” he said simply. 

“You really hate them, don’t you? I mean I don’t blame you. From what I’ve heard, they’re real bastards.” 

“No shi- crap.” he said sternly. He did not mean to snap at her, but he was having trouble holding back. He was not the type to fly into a rage, that is how idiots get themselves killed. The Gunners, though, they got him pretty close. He knew the horrible stuff they had done. There were raider gangs better than them. 

He spent most of his time waiting for them, glaring towards the city. He only budged when the Boss insisted that he eat something. It was not until well after sunset that he spotted movement in the distance. 

He lifted his rifle up, to stare through the scope. Sure enough they were Gunners. He took note of how they were dressed. They had the normal green clothes, but only one of them was wearing light leather armor. They were incredibly low ranking which made his life easier. 

“Boss,” he whispered just loud enough to get her attention. 

“Are they here?” she whispered back. 

He nodded his head ever so slightly. 

“How many?” 

“Three. You can get close enough to take one out.” 

She started quietly making her way towards them. Before she could get too far he said, “Wait, let me take out the one with the armor.” 

She nodded before she started moving again. Once in position she signaled to him that she was ready. He could barely see her pale hand. He sighed and lifted the scope to his eye. He waited for the leather clad Gunner to walk into his crosshairs. It felt like an eternity for him to finally be in just the right place. He took a deep breath and held it. Between heart beats he pulled the trigger. His aim was true, and he took down the man with a single bullet to the head. The moment the gunshot rang through the air the Boss sprang into action. She shot down the second as quick as lightning. The third went down before he could ready his weapon. 

When the last body hit the ground he lowered his rifle. Even though it was his job to shoot people, he did not take any joy from the killing, even if they were Gunners. Taking them down was far better than having to take out some random farmer by all accounts, though. 

He made his way over to the bodies to loot them while the Boss spoke with the farmers. She was better with people than he was. When she walked up to him afterwards she held to bags full of caps. A sign of a job well done. 

They settled next to the fire the farmers had set up. It was far too late to go somewhere else for the night. 

“Damn bastards…” the Boss swore under her breath, shaking her head. She was even less fond of death, but she knew it was necessary. 

“That’s an understatement, boss.” 

“I’m starting to see that, Mac.” 

“Mac?” he asked, slightly bewildered. 

“What?” she shrugged, “It’s easier to say that than MacCready.” 

“You’re not calling me that.” 

She smirked at him. “You gonna stop calling me ‘Boss’?” 

“No.” 

“Then I’m gonna keep calling you Mac.” 

“Whatever,” he grumbled half heartedly. She chuckled in response. 

“Despite that, it is nice to be out on the road again. Goodneighbor was starting to wear out its welcome,” he sighed. 

“Seemed like you were having a rough time back there.” 

“That’s putting it lightly. Commonwealth isn’t the friendliest place when you’re hard up for caps.” 

“I mean, yeah, they’re important, but they’re not worth risking your life over.” 

“Easy for you to say,” he muttered, “I need every cap I can get.” 

“Are you okay? You’re not in trouble, are you?” she asked. She gave him a concerned look. 

“No, not really…” his voice trailed off. The Gunners had been an issue since he had joined up. He wanted them off of his back once and for all. He hated asking for help, but if anyone could, would, help, it was the Boss. 

He took a deep breath before beginning, “Look, you’ve been pretty straight with me, so I’m going to be straight with you. It’s those two ass- idiots you saw me talking to at the Third Rail, Winlock and Barnes. They’ve been hounding me for months. I figured if I could get enough caps together maybe I could buy them out.” 

“I wouldn’t trust them, even if you paid them out. What would stop them from asking for more?” she said, shaking her head. 

He sighed, “Yeah… I’m right there with ya. I mean, what would stop them from just taking the caps, and putting a bullet in my back for good measure? If I asked them to meet up they would roll in with everyone they’ve got. Unless…” he said, sitting straighter, “unless, maybe you and I could pay them a little visit before they realize what is going on. And before you get that look on your face, just know that I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t trust you.” 

He kept a straight face as he waited for her response. The tiny moment before she said anything, though, on the inside he was tense. He knew that she would not berate him for it, but he could not help the worry that seeped in. 

“If you need my help, I’m there,” she said, her expression softening. 

He felt the tension slip away. A small smile crept its way onto his face. 

“Wow… I’m uh, I’m not sure what to say. Truth is I haven’t been able to rely on anyone since I was a kid. Everyone I’ve ever met has either tried to rip me off or plant a knife in my back… but you, I get the funny feeling you actually care about what happens to me.” 

“Because I do. You’ve got my back, I’ve got yours.” 

“I’m starting to see that, boss,” he chuckled softly. He was starting to think that maybe being a little close to the boss was not a bad thing. He had not had someone he could rely on in a long time, and he was starting to realize how badly he missed it. It was nice to not have to constantly look over your shoulder. 

“So, how do we do this?” she asked. 

“They’re usually at a place called the Mass Pike Interchange. It’s pretty far out in the middle of nowhere,” he waited a moment before continuing. When all she did was nod along he continued, “I think the place was called a freeway. Anyway. There are usually three Gunners on the ground below, but there are more up top. Last time I was there they had a suit of power armor and an assaultron. It’s gonna be hard.” 

“Well we have access to power armor too. I’ll check in with Sturges to see if we could use it. We could bring more people if you want? I doubt anyone will pass up a chance to take down some Gunners,” she said thoughtfully. 

“Have anything like that missile launcher at Sanctuary?” he asked. He knew the Minutemen would be willing to help, but he felt like he would be in their debt. The less tabs the better. 

“There’s a minigun? We should have some frag grenades from all those raider fights too.” 

A grin spread across his face, “With that kind of fire power, I think we can do it just the two of us. They won’t know what hit them.” 

***

Despite the tiredness that was slowly starting to make itself known from the day spent traveling, MacCready felt like he had electricity flowing through his body. The anticipation of the coming fight made sure he was completely awake. He was finally going to feel like he was free from the Gunners. 

The three on the ground put up practically no fight. He had snuck up on them by himself using his knife to take care of them as quietly as possible. The longer they went unnoticed the better. 

When they went down the Boss trudged forward as silently as possible. It was hard to sneak around clad in power armor while wielding a minigun, but she was managing surprisingly well. He worried that the elevator was going to snap on the way up due to the Boss’s heavy equipment, but it held up. 

She stepped onto the broken freeway first, acting like a shield. His fingers closed around one of the grenades they had brought. He held up his hand in a way to signal to her to wait. He scanned the area ahead of them, surprised no one noticed them yet. He spotted a group of three relatively close. Winlock was one of them. He pulled the pin and chucked it forward. 

It was a gory scene, but it did the job. Then complete chaos broke out. Gunners scrambled to get into proper positions. The Boss charged forward, pushing them back. He was right, they did have power armor, but no one had been in it before they got there luckily. He felt bullets whiz past him, but none of them even scraped him. The fight did not last long. Even the assaultron barely stood a chance. 

He surveyed the area. All of the Gunners that actually gave crap about him leaving were dead. If they struck back at him now it would be because he helped take down a team, not because he left. He could more than live with that. 

The Boss set down the minigun in one of their makeshift shacks. She stepped out of her power armor, ruffling a hand through her hair. 

“That was… easier than I thought it was going to be. Not that I’m complaining,” she said. 

MacCready nodded, “That should send a message to the Gunners to get off my back. If they do come for me now, at least I’ll be known for taking down one of their teams.” 

“Well, I think they heard you loud and clear,” she chuckled. 

“No shi- no kidding.” 

She simply smiled at him before speaking, “We should probably stay here for the night.” 

“Good idea. The rumor of it being Gunner territory should keep away most people. Oh wait,” he said, setting down his pack. He rummaged through it before he found what he wanted. He produced three leather bags, “I wanted to give you these. They’re the caps you gave me back in Goodneighbor. You’re the one who hired me, but I’m the one who dragged you out here.” 

“That isn’t necessary, you clearly needed the help. Besides there’s trouble coming and I’m not sure how bad it’s going to be...” her voice trailed off as she spoke. She had been doing that more and more as time went on. Every time he asked about it she changed the subject. 

“If you're worried about me walking away, because I gave the caps back, don’t. We’ve got too good a deal going. Besides, a little trouble doesn’t scare me,” he joked. 

“Even if you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into?” 

Her saddened tone made him frown. 

“I didn’t exactly know what I was getting into when I took the job. You aren’t exactly the easiest person to get a read on.” 

“I’m serious. There is something I’m going to have to take care of, and I have no idea what will happen… or what exactly happened.” 

He gave her a confused look. 

“What the hee...eck are you talking about?” 

She frowned at the ground. A misty look over took her face. She took a deep breath, “Please… please hold any judgements until I finish.” 

He narrowed his eyes at her, “…Alright.” 

“When I was in the vault, an infant was kidnapped. His father… was shot in the process. His mother and I were the only two to escape the vault alive. She barely lasted a few hours in the wasteland before raiders got to her. I promised I would find him, but I don’t know who took him or how long he’s been gone. I know time is precious, but if I were to go in unprepared I might not have gone at all. Besides we might have already been too late….” 

“How do you not know how long he’s been gone?” 

She looked off into the distance. Her eyes looked like they did back at the satellite, like she was about the cry. She took a shaky breath, “The vault… the experiment was long term cryostasis. We barely made it in there when the bombs dropped….” 

He could not help the surprised look on his face, but it explained a lot. It explained how she could be so educated on some things, but also be so naive. Why she did not like talking about her past. He would not either if he had lost everything. 

He thought out his words carefully. 

“That makes a lot of sense. But like I said. I’ve got your back. Even if it means tracking down a murderous kidnapper,” he said. He tried to make the last part sound funny. This victory was supposed to be a good thing. 

“Thanks, Mac,” she said with a small smile. 

“Of course, Boss. You hired me after all, and I owe you big time.” 

The Boss, Flynn, was starting to make a whole lot more sense. There were about a million questions he wanted to ask, but he hoped they would be answered with time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out. Writer's block is a bitch


	6. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia finally decides to look into Shaun's kidnapping.

Claudia watched as the sun rose over the Commonwealth. The horizon took on shades of gold and orange. The sky going west to east was a gradient of deep shades of indigo to bright blue. The clouds going out toward the ocean were bright pink. The sunrise made the wasteland look beautiful. It was almost enough to put her mind at ease. Almost. 

Her mind lingered on the night before. She knew she would have to deal with what happened at the vault. She just was not sure when she would be ready. She felt like she was not now, but she knew it had been for the best. She felt guilty for putting it off for so long. It was not like she was just trying to bury her own trauma. Another’s life was on the line. Even though it was true that she could have already been too late the moment she woke up, it still was not right to put it off for so long. She had to do something now. Her Minutemen duties were important, but she needed to do this, besides, maybe she could help others along the way. 

“Mornin’ Boss,” MacCready said groggily from behind her. She jumped slightly. She had not realized how lost in thought she was. 

“Morning,” she said, turning to him. She had already eaten and packed her things, so she simply kept watch as he took care of his things. 

“So, where are we headed to now, Boss?” he asked. 

“We’re going to head to Sanctuary, so we can drop all this stuff off,” she said, gesturing to the suits of power armor and various weapons, “Then we need to go to Diamond City.” 

He gave her a surprised look. 

“Why are we heading there? Didn’t think they would need help from us.” 

“They don’t. Remember what I told you about the vault? ...What happened?” 

“Yeah?” he asked. His curiosity obviously piqued. 

“The people at Sanctuary told me that’s where I should go to start looking for the kid, and that asshole who took him.” 

“Sounds like a good plan to me. I’m not very fond of the place, but even I have to admit that it’s a damn good place to start.” 

She nodded distractedly. She was trying to focus on what was coming, and not the past. 

MacCready got ready quickly. It was dangerous to stay in one place for too long that was not a farm or settlement.They climbed into the suits of power armor, and started to head to Sanctuary. 

They followed the freeway north, making their way over the hills below it. Their armor made a decent amount of noise, but luckily for them most raiders and Gunners would be able to recognize the noise. Normally, small bits of banter passed between them, but their heavy footfalls discouraged them. 

About an hour or so into their journey, she heard the distinct growling and hissing sounds of ferals. Claudia stilled. A chill ran up her back. Ferals freaked her out. Normal ghouls were perfectly fine. They just looked like injured people. Ferals on the other hand were incredibly disfigured. Their spines were bent out of shape. Their hands and feet would sometimes not even resemble what they were meant to be. Their faces would resemble high quality zombie masks, looking completely ruined. And that was not even mentioning how they moved or worse, smelled. She was not sure how she had managed to keep it together the first time she saw a feral. 

“Did you hear that?” MacCready asked, bringing his rifle up to position. 

“Yeah,” she replied, quietly. She readied the minigun. She did not want to waste bullets on the ferals, but using her pistol would call for too much effort. 

They stared down the broken street they were on. Sure enough a group of six ferals wandered onto the cracked pavement. They remained still as can be in their power armor, waiting to see if the ferals would notice them. One of the shamblers turned and looked directly at them. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. She knew that they would have no trouble taking them down, but that did not take away from the horror of the situation. She could sense MacCready go completely stiff next to her. He had absolutely no issues with normal ghouls, but ferals for whatever reason got to him. 

Suddenly it let out some sort of growl like noise, and the charged forward. She pulled the trigger on the minigun, and let it do its job. Just as she had predicted they had not stood a chance, but it was hard to shake the fear from her bones. Ferals sat uncomfortable in the uncanny valley for her. 

“Fu- freaking ferals,” he muttered beside her. His voice was slightly shaky. She wondered why they affected him so much. Even the mirelurk queen had not affected him like this. 

They started making their way north again. The shakiness melted back to its original warriness. 

***

It was almost sundown by the time they got back to Sanctuary. The wildlife and super mutants seemed to be particularly active that day. 

She sighed as she stepped out of the power armor. Her muscles were stiff from not being able to move properly. MacCready stepped out of his, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I’m going to go find Preston and Sturges. Why don’t you head back to the house? We’ll be leaving for Diamond City first thing in the morning,” she said. 

“Yes, Ma’am,” he joked. 

She scoffed in response as she watched him head over to their shared house. She wandered over to the low, shack-like building in the heart of the cul de sac. It was constantly undergoing construction, looking better and less shackish every day. It was the Minuteman base for Sanctuary. 

She poked her head through the door. Inside Preston and Sturges were inside talking about building and sending turrets to the Castle. 

“Hey, guys,” she said, stepping completely into the building. It was essentially one big room at this point. 

“General, you’re back,” Preston said. 

“Hey, Boss,” Sturges greeted. 

“Did I miss anything while I was gone?” 

“Nothing we could not easily deal with. How did it go with the Gunners? You made it sound like it was a big deal,” Preston said. 

“It went well. We took down one of their captains. Oh, and we grabbed a suit of power armor as well.” 

“Oh damn, that’s a find!” Sturges said. 

“We left it with the other one.” 

“Do you want me to work on it?” 

“If you want to. For the time being I don’t think we’ll need either, though,” she explained. 

Sturges nodded in response. 

She turned to Preston, “Do you know of anyone that needs help near Diamond City? MacCready and I are heading there tomorrow. I… I need to deal with what happened in the vault.” 

“I was going to go over with who you wanted to send to a place called Hangman’s Alley that’s near there, but if you want to do it go for it. It’s your call, General,” Preston responded. 

“What’s needed to do there?” 

“Clear and set up.” 

“If Diamond City is as important as I’ve heard, then that’s a great idea. MacCready and I will take care of it. Do you know what’s there?” 

“Raiders,” he said simply. 

“Then there shouldn’t be any complaints from him then.” 

“Yer lookin’ for people right?” Sturges interjected. 

“Yeah?” 

“I suggest you take Dogmeat with ya in case ya need to track anythin’.” 

“Thanks for the suggestion.” 

“I don’t mean to derail anything, but there are some things we need to talk about, Ma’am.” 

“Of course, and you know you don’t have to call me that, right?” 

***

Claudia sat on the edge of the foot of her bed shivering. Her head rested in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She stared at the old safe in the corner of the room. There was something inside it she needed, but she did not want to stare at the relics of the past. She had just finally opened up about the kidnapping and the murder. She was not sure if she was ready to come to terms with what she had lost yet. Eventually the need for what was inside won the argument. 

She slid off of the bed to her knees. She knelt in front of the safe. Her hand raised to open it, but her hand stopped mid-air, hesitant. She shook her head, pushing away any thoughts holding her back. She opened the safe, and stared at its contents. Inside was her vault suit, old pictures and books that had managed to survive, jewelry, silverware, and various other metal trinkets. She gingerly picked up the bright blue suit, careful not to disturb the other items. She looked at everything one last time before she sealed the safe again. She was not sure when, or if, she would open it again. 

She got redressed, this time with the vault suit underneath her other clothing. She needed it for its warmth. She was not used to the cold. The collar was visible, as well as part of the sleeve on her left arm, where the other layers were pushed up to make room for her Pip-Boy. 

She stepped outside of the house where MacCready and Dogmeat were waiting. He leaned against the house smoking a cigarette while Dogmeat sat on the old sidewalk. She wondered how he did not seem to be too cold, especially since his ratty duster was missing a sleeve. 

He turned his attention to her. She could tell he noticed the suit by the way his eyes narrowed briefly, but he did not say anything about it. 

“Ready, Boss?” he asked. 

“If you are, but there’s been a slight change of plans.” 

“What?” he groaned. 

“There’s some raider territory we have to clear out. According to Preston it’s pretty close to Diamond City.” 

“Can I see where it is?” 

She nodded, and fiddled with her Pip-Boy to pull up the map. She held out her arm for him to see. 

“That’s not too bad. Let’s go then.” 

She turned to Dogmeat, and called, “Come on, boy. Let’s go!” 

They walked in relative silence as they made their way over the bridge and into Concord. She wondered if Sanctuary or Starlight would ever grow large enough for them to have to properly claim the town. 

“Hey, I have a question,” she asked suddenly. 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“Diamond City, is it in an old baseball stadium?” 

“I think that’s what it was, why?” he asked curiously. 

“I actually know where that is for once. I’ve been there before. Well, before the bombs that is….” her voice trailed off. 

“Oh… uh, are you sure you still want to do this, Boss?” 

“I have to. I can’t keep running from this,” she sighed. 

“Well, whatever you decide, I’ve got your back.” 

“Thanks, Mac.” 

***

“Damn rain,” MacCready cursed, as he closed the door to the old apartment complex. 

Dogmeat shook, sending dirty water and the smell of wet dog everywhere. 

“At least we weren’t out in the middle of nowhere,” Claudia sighed. She Shivered slightly from the cold water. She was thankful They had only been in the rain for a few moments, and it had not been too heavy. There were a few wet patches on her clothes, but it was nothing horrible. 

He grumbled something, but she did not hear him. She checked the time on her Pip-Boy. It was only mid-afternoon. She cursed lightly to herself. They had made good time that day, and would have been able to make it to Diamond City by sundown. 

“Do you think we’re going to have to stay here for the night?” she asked. 

“Probably. We probably won’t make it to that raider camp or Diamond City before sunset. Besides, this place seems relatively safe.” 

She nodded, “Alright. We should search the place before we settle down, and we should probably stay in the same room or apartment at the very least. This isn’t Goodneighbor.” 

He nodded before wandering off further into the building, and Dogmeat followed him. Other than having signs of being inhabited by radroaches at one point, the place looked like it had not been touched in a very long time. It took far longer than they had anticipated to search the building, but there was no such thing as being too cautious. They ended up settling for the night in an apartment on the first floor. They cracked a window, and created a small and insulated fire in a trash can. They spread their bed rolls over the ratty couches before heating up their dinner. Dogmeat curled up next to her. 

MacCready looked like he was lost in thought as they quietly ate. This alone was not out of the ordinary, but something about the exact look on his face made her think twice. 

“Something on your mind?” she asked. 

He was silent for a moment, like he was debating with himself, then he asked, “You lived here before the war, right? How do you not know your way around?” 

He spoke gently, not in his usual accusatory voice when he thought someone was completely clueless. 

“I… I had only moved here about a month before the bombs dropped to live with my grandmother. I’m not from here,” she said lowly. She was surprised her voice did not shake. 

“Fair enough,” not a hint of judgement in his voice, “You know, I’m not from the Commonwealth either.” 

“You’re not?” she asked. 

“Grew up in the Capital Wasteland. You think it’s bad here? Shoulda been there ten years ago. It’s still pretty fu- freaking bad at times, but it is better.” 

“I can’t imagine how hard it must have been,” she said quietly. It was not like him to talk about himself like this. She wondered if there was something he needed to get off of his chest just like she did. 

“Could’ve been worse. At least I had a place to live. Grew up in a place called Little Lamplight with a bunch of other kids. Left there when I was about sixteen. We kind of had a policy there. No adults. When you were sixteen you packed up and left. I… I know how it sounds.” 

“How could a bunch of kids survive like that?” she asked. Almost every story she read about kids living by themselves with no adult supervision tended to end badly. 

“Everyone pulled their own weight. Just like a colony you’d find anywhere, he said nonchalantly, “Can you believe I was the mayor for a while?” 

“What?” she laughed. _Mayor MacCready_ , she supposed it had a little bit of a ring to it. 

He laughed in return, “Crazy I know.” 

“I guess if it worked…” she said. She did not really think it was a great idea, but she did not want to scare him off. 

“I don’t know… I think we were just lucky,” he shook his head, “Any way when I hit sixteen I ended up wandering the Capital Wasteland for a while. Things were pretty hot with the Brotherhood of Steel there, and I didn’t want any part of that, so I headed north and ended up here. Made a decent name for myself, then I heard the Gunners were looking for sharpshooters. Biggest mistake of my life…” 

“Yeah, but that’s behind you now,” she said. 

“Which brings us to now. Thanks to you, I’m finally rid of their garbage smell. I haven’t been able to depend on anyone like this in a while, so I wanted you to know who you were traveling with better. Especially after the other night.” 

She thought for a moment. It was nice to know he trusted her as much as she trusted him. He was the closest thing she had to a friend now. He was her friend. 

“Sounds like the world can be a lonely place, until you find someone you trust enough to share it with.” 

His face reddened and his eyes widened slightly. 

“I, uh, never thought about it that way,” he laughed. 

In turn her face had reddened slightly too. She figured she had just misspoke. She did not mean what she said in any way other than platonic. 

He cleared his throat, “But maybe that’s why I feel so comfortable telling you all of this. Look… I know I tend to be a pain in the a- erugh, I mean, I know I tend to be arrogant, and come off like I want to be alone. Nothing could be further from the truth. Being alone scares the heck out of me…” he paused to take a deep breath, “So, now that we’ve been traveling together for awhile, and after what happened with the Gunners, I’m beginning to realize how much I missed having someone I could depend on. So, thank you for being there for me.” 

“Of course, MacCready. That’s what friends are for.” 

“‘Friends,’” he laughed, “might take me awhile to get used to that.” 

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” she smiled. 

She could feel some tension fall from her shoulders. It was nice to know how much he trusted her. Parts of how he acted made sense to her now. The occasional child at heart that would typically show up when they found old comic books. His dislike of authority that was not her or that mayor in Goodneighbor… Hancock, she believed his name was. Those things made sense to her now. 

***

Claudia glanced over her shoulder one last time at the newly acquired Hangman’s Alley. The raiders that had resided were dead. They did the dirty work, so that whoever Sturges was sending to set up the radio beacon would not have to worry about that. 

She closed the door behind her. Then she wound her way through the broken city closer and closer to the old stadium, taking point for once. Once they were right up against the wall she marveled at the state of it. It was in surprisingly good condition. The people inside were taking good care of it from what she could see. _At least Fenway Park will stand the test of time_ she thought. 

At the gate a woman in what looked like a reporter costume was arguing with an intercom. Her red, leather duster was in good condition save the holes at the bottom. Her cap had a piece of paper that said ‘press’ sticking out of it. 

“What do you mean can’t open the gate? Danny, I’m standin’ out here in the open here for crying out loud!” the woman demanded. 

“I got orders to not let you in Miss Piper. I’m sorry, I’m just doing my job,” the intercom relayed back. 

“Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, huh? Oh look! It’s the scary reporter, BOO!” she said sarcastically. She spoke with her hands in a very animated way. 

Next to Claudia, MacCready groaned, “Of course the gate is closed when we show up.” 

“I’m sure everything will work out.” 

Suddenly the woman in front of them whipped around to face them. 

“Hey, you, you want into Diamond City, right?” 

“Uh, yeah?” Claudia asked. She glanced at MacCready who seemed to be equally confused. 

“Play along,” the woman whispered. She turned to the intercom again, and started the act, “What’s that? You’re a trader up from Quicy? You have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for a whole month! You hear that Danny? You gonna let us in, or are you going to be the one to tell Crazy Myrna about losing out on all this supply?” 

“Uh…” Claudia glanced at MacCready again. He just shrugged at her. 

“Fine. Give me a minute,” the man grumbled through the intercom. Then the gate started to lift. 

“We should head inside before ol’ Danny catches on to the bluff,” the woman said. 

“Hey, Boss, you sure about this?” MacCready asked as the woman started to walk to the entrance. 

“Not like we have much of a choice,” she said following the woman. 

A man in a patched suit was waiting for them. He looked furious as he addressed the woman, “Piper! Who let you back inside? I thought I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut! You devious, rabble-rousing slanderer! The level of dishonesty in that paper! I’ll have that printer scrapped for parts.” 

“Ooo, is that a statement Mr. McDonough?” Piper interjected, “‘Tyrant Mayor Shuts Down the Press.’ Why don’t we ask the newcomer? You support the news? ‘Cause the mayor is threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster.” 

Claudia was caught off guard by the sudden inclusion into the argument. She looked between Piper and the mayor. She was unsure about what to think about Piper, but there was something deeply off about the mayor. She could not quite put her finger on it. She knew which side to choose, besides she knew the importance of the press. 

“Always believed in freedom of the press,” she offered. 

MacCready scoffed behind her. 

The mayor turned to Claudia. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean to bring into this argument, Miss. No,no… you look like Diamond City material. Don’t let this muckraker taint your idea of our lovely city,” he tired, and failed to convince her. 

“This hasn’t been the friendliest welcome,” Claudia said. 

“She’s got you there McDonough. Guess not everyone’s won over by that shark smile of yours,” Piper scoffed. 

“Ignore her. Was there anything in particular you came to our city for?” 

She glanced back to MacCready, who had a very wary look on his face. Something was wrong here, and she had a feeling it was McDonough’s fault. 

“Missing person. An infant,” she said simply. 

“An infant is missing? Are you and the security just going to stand by while these two search for a baby?” Piper demanded. 

“Don’t listen to her. While I’m afraid the security team cannot follow every case, I’m sure you can find help here,” he smiled. A chill ran up Claudia’s spine. 

“I hope so,” she said coolly. She had a feeling it would be best to get involved as little as possible with this man. 

“This is ridiculous! Diamond City security can’t offer one person to help?” Piper interjected. 

“That is enough out of you, Piper. Consider you and that little sister of yours on notice.” 

“Keep talking, McDonough! It’s all you're good for!” she shouted at his retreating back. 

She sighed, “You feel honored yet? Look, I got to get settled in, but you should stop by my place later. I have an idea for an article that you would be perfect for, Miss.” 

Claudia turned to MacCready. He looked just like she felt. Completely bewildered. 

“The hell was that?” she asked. 

“I have no idea. But are you really going to do that ‘story’?” 

“If there is something in it for us,” she sighed. 

She looked towards the entrance. Anticipation of what might have become of one of the most famous baseball stadiums filled her. She wondered what other information she might find, and how much more confusing things could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate writing dialogue from the game. It's hard to make it more unique, but still follow the flow of the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	7. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia looks for someone to help, and takes Piper with her, MacCready, adn Dogmeat to go rescue Nick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make the interview more intersting. Don't know how I did.

Claudia’s eyes widened as she stepped out into Diamond City. It was completely different from what it had been before the war. Makeshift shacks crowded the field and stands. Smoke drifted from the building building in the center. Children wove between the buildings, as adults went about their business. Although it was strange compared to the past, the life filled stadium was a welcome change compared to the rest of the Commonwealth. 

They made their way onto the field. The feelings of safety quickly melted away, and replaced by something more sinister. The children seemed to be fine, but the adults were whispering amongst each other. She caught snippets of “Institute,” “Synth,” and “Replacement.” She had heard these things every now and then from the various people they helped, but it was never anything like this. When she had tried to ask about it she never got any answers. Nothing real anyway. 

They stopped between the first two buildings. The one on her left had a giant sign that read “Publick Occurrences.” A girl stood on a small wooden box, shouting about the paper. She stopped, and shrugged her pack off. She dug around in it for a bit before she produced a bag of caps. 

She held out the bag to MacCready and said, “Why don’t you do some shopping. Get us some ammo and stuff. I’m going to go talk to that reporter.” 

“Why? Are you actually going to do the interview?” he asked. 

“Depends on what she wants, and what I can get out of it. I doubt you’ll complain about caps, but I’m hoping she can point us in the right direction for help.” 

“Fair enough. I’ll be in the market or the bar if you need me,” he said, taking the bag from her. 

“Don’t you think it’s just a little too early to start drinking?” 

“They’ve got rooms we can stay in,” he shrugged as he walked away. 

She rolled her eyes at his back. Dogmeat looked up at her curiously. She nodded, and he took off after MacCready. 

She sighed as she turned towards the girl. The moment she got the girl’s attention, she said, “Free paper to newcomers. If the Institute tries to grab you in the night, at least we warned you. 

“Uh, thanks,” Claudia replied, taking the newspaper, “Is… Piper here? She said she wanted to do a story on me.” 

“Yeah, she’s inside. Probably hiding from the mayor or security,” she said, and then immediately went back to doing her job. Claudia smiled slightly. She was certainly passionate about the paper. 

She walked past the girl and the printing press to the door. She took a deep breath before turning the door. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust once she stepped inside. Beams of sunlight that made it through small cracks, and a mixture of candles and lamps provided enough light for her to see. It was cramped, but still homey. It vaguely reminded her of cramped apartments from the early 20th century and before. It was nice in its own way. 

“Nice for you to stop by, Blue,” Piper said, walking down the stairs from what Claudia assumed was a loft. 

“Blue?” Claudia asked. 

“You’re a vault dweller aren’t you? You’re not doing a good job of hiding the jumpsuit,” Piper explained. 

Claudia’s hand raised to the collar of the suit. It was more out of habit than nerves. Over a month of not wearing a necklace, and her hand still flew to the base of her neck. 

“I am, er, I was,” she said. 

“Figured,” Piper sighed, “Look, I want an interview. It’s time Diamond City had a little outside perspective. You do that, and I’ll owe you a favor. I’d offer caps, but I gotta look out for Nat.” 

“Deal,” Claudia responded. She did not even take a moment to mull over it. 

“Good, good. Let me grab something to write everything down on, and we’ll get down to business. Why don’t you take a seat,” she said, gesturing to the couch. 

Claudia nodded before sitting down, as Piper headed upstairs. It felt odd to be in the home of someone she did not know well. Part of her regretted not having Dogmeat stay with her. 

Piper took two trips down the stairs. The first she carried a chair down. The second she returned with a notebook and pencil. 

“Before we start,” she said as she sat down, “I don’t think I asked what your name is.” 

“Claudia-” she sighed before correcting herself, “General Claudia Flynn.” 

“General?” Piper asked with an eyebrow raised. 

“Minutemen.” 

“You’re the one rebuilding them? You seem to be doing a good job so far. You won’t get any arguments from me about how much we need them.” 

“Thank you.” 

“I’m probably going to have to do a part two,” Piper laughed, “Anyway, Let's start. So, I know you’re from a vault. Was it Vault 81?” 

Claudia frowned. She should have guessed that she would ask about the vault. She sighed quietly. She had to stop running from the past. Someone else’s life was on the line, or at least their story was. 

“No. I’m from Vault 111.” 

Piper’s eyebrows shot up. “Vault 111? I didn’t know there were people in there. It’s the only one in the Commonwealth that hasn’t been explored. What happened? How would you describe your time inside?” 

She stared at the wall ahead in an attempt to keep herself calm. She needed all the help she could get. Again she wished Dogmeat was with her, but this time she also MacCready was with her. He was really the only person she completely trusted. 

“We barely made it into the vault. We were in shock, and they used that against us. They tricked us into entering these pods. Said they would prepare us for going deeper into the vault. Turns out they were cryostasis pods. They were the rest of the vault for us.” 

When she glanced at Piper again, her mouth was hanging open. 

“You were alive when the bombs fell? They boxed you all up in a fridge?” 

“Yeah.” 

Piper leaned back in her chair, “Oh my God. _The Woman Out of Time_ ,” she said thoughtfully, “What happened to everyone else? Where are they?” 

“Dead.” 

Piper’s expression softened, “I’m sorry. I should have known something like that would be the case. You don’t have to answer any more questions about the vault.” 

Claudia simply nodded in response. 

“I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but what was it like, before the war?” she asked hesitantly. 

“Before the war… things were different. There’s the obvious lack of radiation. Disease wasn’t as much of an issue. Neither was murder. But there was a struggle for resources. There was this… malaise. Like you could tell the end was coming. There was a lot of good though. Or at least there was in my life. It’s… complicated. Looking back hurts.” 

Piper nodded. “Do you know what the war was about?” 

Claudia sighed, “I’m not really sure. I could tell you what the propaganda said it was about. What a lot of the soldiers thought it was about, but what the people actually waging the war knew it was about? My best guess is power and resources.” 

“What did the propaganda want you to think?” 

“It was about freedom. Protecting our way of life, and all that,” she scoffed as she waved her hand in a dismissive way. 

“People were willing to risk their lives for a way of life?” She asked in disbelief. 

She simply nodded again. 

Piper opened her mouth like she was going to add something, then shook her head as if she was deciding against it. Then she changed the subject, “I’m sure you’ve seen some of the Commonwealth. How exactly does it compare to your old life?” 

“The good parts… give me hope. The different farms and settlements show that we can heal, even if it’s slowly. It shows how stubborn we are in the best ways. That people will fight for the right thing. The bad parts on the other hand… the raiders, the gunners… the rampant murders and kidnappings, it’s disgusting. What’s worse is how little is being done about it all.” 

“I couldn’t have said it better. The baby you’re looking for, he was kidnapped wasn’t he?” 

“Yeah,” she said simply. She felt herself relax slightly. It felt better to focus on the task at hand than the past. 

“Do you know who kidnapped him? Do you think the Institute is responsible?” 

Claudia looked directly at Piper when the word “Institute” hit her ears. 

“I keep hearing that word, and everytime I ask about it no one gives me an actual answer. What is it?” 

Piper sighed, “That would be the biggest mystery in the Commonwealth. No one really knows who or what they are. Just that they exist. Their handiwork is all over the place. They create synthetic people, or synths, to do their dirty work. Sometimes they even replace people.” 

“They make synthetic people?” Claudia asked. She knew how weird and messed up things in the wasteland could be, or at least she thought she did, but this was a whole new territory. 

“Yeah, there are two major kinds you have to watch out for,” she explained, “The first is an obvious fake. Skin looks like plastic, glowing eyes, and the robot skeleton may even be visible. They’re the ones who are usually responsible for large amounts of death. Then there’s the ones you can’t tell apart from humans. They’re more… complicated. And I know that the Institute isn’t behind everything that goes wrong, but it’s still a possibility. Do you think they might be involved?” 

“I have no idea,” Claudia answered. She was not sure how to feel about this new information. Part of her was already wishing she was eternally confused about the matter. 

“No one ever does. That’s what makes them so scary. This baby, do you have any information about him so people can help look for him?” 

“Just his name. It’s Shaun. He was kidnapped while we were in the vault… he’s the only other survivor.” 

“I understand why you want to find him now. For this last question I want to do something different. I want you to make a statement to Diamond City directly. The threat of kidnappings is pretty much ignored.” 

“I noticed,” Claudia grumbled. 

“I know. McDonough makes it very clear. Anyway, what would you say to someone who has lost a loved one, but might be too scared, or too numb to the world to look for them?” 

Claudia leaned back against the couch while she thought. She answered after a moment, “You have to have hope, no matter what, that you will find them, or at least find out what happened.” 

“A strong note to end on, Blue, thanks,” she said as she finished up writing, “That’s everything. It’ll take some time to put this together, but it’ll be worth it, and when you want to cash in that favor, you just let me know.” 

“I think I’m going to do that right now,” Claudia said. 

“Really, you’re not going to even take some time to think it over?” Piper joked. 

“Is there anyone who can help me find the kid?” 

“Oh, that’s it? Yeah, I do, I just wasn’t sure whether or not to point you towards him or not. Wanted to make sure you’d be worth his time, since he’s the only one who will help kidnapping victims, and he’s really good too. He’s a friend of mine. I can introduce you if you’d like?” she offered. 

“That’d be great.” 

“Let me put this stuff away, and we can head over there.” 

Claudia nodded as she stood up. She fiddled with the bottom edge of her jacket as she waited. She should have prepared herself better mentally about this. She was not sure why she did not think she would have to talk about the vault this much. 

She jumped slightly when Piper returned, and shook her from her thoughts. She followed Piper as she led the way. She could feel the nerves ease slightly, If anything they turned into slight frustration the moment she spotted the neon red sign. “Valentine’s Detective Agency,” it read with a love heart being pierced with an arrow. 

_Seriously, I have to go to a guy with a sign like this?_ she thought. 

She sighed quietly as she followed Piper inside. The inside looked a lot more professional than the sign outside. It had two desks, several boxes and filing cabinets, and papers and files strewn about. There was a woman in the back sorting through files. 

She must have heard them walk in, because before either Piper or Claudia could get a word out she said, “Sorry Piper, I’m afraid you’re too late, the office is closed.” 

“Is Nicky not back yet? It’s been two weeks.” Piper asked. 

The woman shook her head, “I haven’t heard from him since he left.” 

“Maybe I can help,” Claudia interjected, “If you have any information as to where he went, I could go look for him. I’m no detective myself, but saving people is what I do.” 

The woman’s face lit up, “Really? In that case, as Piper said he went missing two weeks ago. He was working a case. Skinny Malone’s group had kidnapped a young woman. They’re hiding out in Park Street Station.” 

Claudia nodded, “I’ll get him back, you have my word.” 

She hadn’t thought she’d have to rescue the person who was supposed to help her save Shaun. 

“He should be easy to spot. He’s always wearing that trench coat and hat get up. Please hurry,” she begged. 

With that Claudia turned on her heel, and rushed out the door. Unlike Shaun, she knew exactly how long this detective had been missing. Time was of the essence, and she needed to find MacCready and Dogmeat before she left. 

She had only taken a few steps away from the door before Piper grabbed her arm. 

“Wait, Blue, I’m coming with you,” she said. 

“You sure about that? We don’t know exactly what we’re walking into,” Claudia cautioned. She knew Piper was aware of the dangers, and She seemed like she could handle herself in a fight, but that did not stop her from being concerned. 

“Nick’s one of the few friends I have. Besides, the more guns you’ve got the safer you’ll be,” she argued. 

“Alright, but we have to find my friend first. He’s a good shot, we’ll need him,” Claudia said. There was no way she was leaving MacCready behind. 

“I mean to ask about him earlier. Is he a Minuteman? Doesn’t exactly look like what I would expect.” 

“No, he’s not. He’s… a friend,” she replied. She did not want to call him a mercenary or gun for hire, even though he was. She felt like it did not do him justice. He was not just some low-life mercenary just in it for the caps. Sure, they were definitely a reason as to why he was there, but at this point she felt like she could also call him her friend. 

“Fair enough.” 

Claudia weaved between the buildings with Piper behind her. She scanned the market. MacCready was nowhere to be seen. 

She turned to Piper, “Is there an inn here?” 

“Yeah, there’s the Dugout Inn, why?” 

“That’s where he is,” she explained before she started walking again. For once she actually had an idea where she was going in a somewhat unfamiliar place. 

She spotted him and Dogmeat just as they were about to go inside. 

“MacCready!” she shouted. She winced slightly when she saw him jump a little. She had not meant to scare him. 

“Yeah, boss?” he asked. He looked slightly annoyed. 

“We gotta go.” 

“You already got a lead?” he asked as he walked up to them. He tilted his head slightly towards Piper as if to indicate her as the lead. 

“Kinda? I have a lead on who could help.” 

“Let me guess, we have to go rescue him?” 

Claudia gave him an apologetic smile, “At least we have help for once.” It had been a while since either of them had slept in a proper bed. The last time they had been in Sanctuary neither of them had been able to sleep there. 

“Alright, were we headed?” he sighed. 

“Park Street Station.” 

“You sure that’s a good idea, Boss?” he asked nervously, “That’s really close to the Boston Common.” 

“What’s wrong with the Boston Common?” she asked. To her it was nothing more than a park. 

“When people go there they tend to not come back,” he explained. 

Claudia’s eyes widened. She thought back to when she got lost in the city before she stumbled into Goodneighbor. She turned to Piper, and asked, “Do you think that’s why he disappeared?” 

Piper shook her head, “Doubt it. It’s probably that gang Ellie mentioned.” 

“Who are you, by the way?” he asked suspiciously. 

“Piper Wright, Publick Occurrences. I was going to introduce Claudia here to my friend, so he could help you guys find the kid you’re looking for,” she explained, slightly irritated, “but now, looks like I’m going to help you save him.” 

He narrowed his eyes, “As long as you don’t get in our way.” 

“Right, because I want to risk my friend’s life.” 

“That’s enough,” Claudia interjected, “Mac, did you get extra ammo?” 

He glared at her when she called him that, but nodded, and handed over the bullets he bought. 

Then she turned to Piper, “You ready to head out?” 

She nodded. 

“Then let’s go. Time’s of the essence,” she said as she turned to head towards the entrance. This was going to be a long walk there, and back. 

Piper took point as they made their way through the city. Dogmeat trotted carefully by her side. Every now and then Claudia would look behind her to see MacCready’s knuckles grow whiter and whiter on his rifle as they got closer to the park. Piper stopped and dropped to a crouch behind a bus across the street from the park. Claudia and MacCready stopped right behind her. 

“Any ideas as to how we’re gonna get to the station?” she whispered. 

Claudia surveyed the area. She could not see what the issue was. It was a bit eerie, but it was in the same way that the rest of the ruins were. She looked at MacCready. To someone else he would look completely stone faced, determined maybe, but she could see how scared he was. She was worried he was going to break his rifle. 

“We’ll stay close to the buildings, and cross the street once we get to the station doors.” 

The other two nodded. They slowly crept along the dilapidated buildings towards the entrance. The ground crunched quietly under their feet. Claudia’s ears hurt slightly as she strained to listen to anything out of the ordinary. There were gunshots in the distance, but they were not close enough to worry her. She kept an eye on Dogmeat to watch his reactions. She was amazed at how quiet he was being. 

Once they were inside she could practically feel MacCready relax, despite the voices nearby. She looked at him and Piper with a finger to her lips. She drew closer to the door that led from the stairs to the main entrance, switching from her pistol to her shotgun. 

The voices did not sound like the typical raiders. She looked around the corner. They were certainly not dressed like typical raiders either. They were wearing different suits, slacks, button ups, and other nicer clothes. Sure, they were all dirty, but the quality was far above a raider. They reminded her of the mob from before the bombs. After spotting a ghoul she wondered if they were the mob. 

She listened to them talk a bit longer to figure out a plan. Though they were dressed nicer, they did not seem to be any better than the raiders she had dealt with. She nodded towards MacCready. He immediately took the hint and inched forward to quickly take out a few of the men. He was able to take out two before the others reacted. Claudia and Dogmeat joined the fight before they were able to ready their guns. 

“You two don’t mess around. Good thing you’re not on their side,” Piper muttered. She sounded impressed. 

No signs of the missing detective were found there, so they went deeper underground. At the bottom of the stairs Claudia peaked around the wall. 

“There’s several of them down there. Not quite sure how many. There’s a lot of places to hide. Cover me,” she said quietly. 

The other two nodded, and she ran out. They took them completely surprised. Apparently they had not heard the fight that had taken place upstairs. That gave them a good enough edge to take them down quickly. 

Claudia checked the bodies as the other two roamed the area looking for clues. When all three came up empty handed they headed down the subway tracks. 

Claudia stopped in her tracks when she saw the vault door. She could feel her blood run cold. She was vaguely aware of MacCready shouting at her. The only thing that shook her was the sound of more gunshots. When she came back to the moment there were three more dead bodies on the ground. 

“Are you alright, Boss?” MacCready asked. His voice was filled with concern. 

She looked at the vault door again before looking back at him. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Let’s go.” 

MacCready frowned at her, but did not say anything. She glanced at Piper, who looked concerned as well, before headed to the entrance. She walked up the stairs, and plugged her Pip-Boy to the console, remembering how she and Nora escaped Vault 111. Her hands shook as she pushed the button. She winced as the entrance opened up. 

Together, the group fought their way through the vault. Claudia focused on each individual motion and the end goal. She was thankful that this vault was brighter. It was less decrepit. Lived in. 

They moved quickly through the vault until Claudia heard a voice echo through the vault. 

“How you doin’ in there Valentine? Feeling hungry? Need a snack?” said the voice. 

Claudia motioned to the others to stop. She peaked around the corner of the door frame. On the other side was the vault’s atrium. On the third level was a man standing in front of a round window. Claudia assumed the detective was on the other side. 

“Keep talking meathead. You’ll give Skinny Malone more time to think about how he’s going to bump you off,” Valentine responded. He sounded like a stereotypical film noir detective. 

“That’s him,” Piper whispered. 

Claudia turned to MacCready, “There’s a guy standing guard. Should be easy to take out.” 

MacCready nodded, and traded places with her. He lifted his scope up to his eye. There was an agonizing silence as they waited for him to take the shot. The moment the gunshot sounded, they were on the move. 

Claudia sprinted up to where Valentine was being locked up. The others were close behind her. She stopped so suddenly when she came to the window that Piper almost crashed into her. Staring back at her was a pair of glowing yellow eyes. 

“Piper, is that you?” he asked. 

“Yeah, Nick. We’re here to get you out of here,” she responded as she used the terminal on the wall to open the door. 

Claudia nodded at MacCready in a way to tell him to keep watch while she went in with Piper. Her eyes widened when she saw all of the Detective. His voice certainly matched his clothes. He wore a patched trench coat, a beaten up fedora, and nice clothes underneath. The clothes were exactly as Ellie said, but his face and body were a perfect match for how Piper had described a synth. Along with the glowing eyes, he had plastic skin that was falling off. He was missing huge patches missing on the left side of his face, and his entire right hand, exposing the metal underneath. 

“Gotta love the irony of the reverse damsel-in-distress scenario. Question is, why did our heroine risk life and limb for an old private eye?” he asked, lighting a cigarette in the process. 

It took Claudia a moment to respond. Things had taken a hard, bizarre turn that she was not ready for. After all the whispers and fears, she had not been prepared to ask a synth for help, but if he was allowed to live in Diamond City, and if he was as great of a detective as everyone said, she was willing to ask for his help. 

“A baby was kidnapped. I need help finding him,” she said simply. 

“Well you came to the right man, if not the right place. I’ve been cooped up in here for weeks. Turns out the runaway daughter I came here to find wasn’t kidnapped. She’s Skinny Malone’s new flame, and she’s got a mean streak. Anyway, you’ve got troubles, and I’m glad to help, but now ain’t the time. Let’s blow this joint. Then we’ll talk.” 

“Fine with me,” she said and followed him out of the room. 

She had only taken a few steps out of the room before MacCready caught her by her elbow. 

“You sure this is a good idea, Boss? He’s literally falling apart,” he asked quietly. She had a feeling that was not the only reason he was asking. 

She sighed, “Trust me, I know, but it’s not like we have any other options.” 

“Let’s just hope this doesn’t come back to bite us in the butt,” he muttered as they followed Nick and Piper down the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the next chapter I won't be focusing on the main quest line very intensely


	8. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they hunt down Kellogg, MacCready starts to worry about Claudia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene with Kellogg is more graphic than usual just to warn you. Sorry if the stuff with Piper seems a bit ooc.

MacCready leaned against the wall behind where Flynn was sitting. She was sat in front of the synth detective’s desk. He did not trust him as far as he could throw him, but Flynn was right. They did not have any other options at the moment. 

What he did not understand was why the reporter was still with them. She had barely added an extra edge when they went to rescue Valentine, and he had practically felt judgement radiate from her when he had first met her. She was not offering anything now, but if he was honest he did not think he was either. He did not completely understand why she was having him stand there, and not buy more provisions since they had burnt through some ammo already. 

His gaze shifted from the opposing wall to Valentine when he spoke. It was unsettling. He sounded just like a human. Maccready had always thought the earlier generations would sound more like the robots he was used to. 

“When you’re trying to find someone who’s gone missing, the devil is in the details. Tell me everything you can, no matter…” Valentine paused for a moment, as if searching for the right word, “painful it might be.” 

Flynn nodded. He could not see her face from where he was standing, but he could see from the way her shoulders were slumped that ‘painful’ was the right word. 

She took a deep breath before speaking, “We’re looking for an infant named Shaun. He was my neighbors’ son. I have no idea why someone would want to take him.” 

“That’s a good question,” Valentine said, “Why an infant? They require lots of care, so this isn’t just some run of the mill kidnapping. What else can you tell me.” 

“They had to take him from his father. He wouldn’t let them take them. He fought back as best he could, and uh… they shot him,” MacCready could hear her voice getting noticeably weaker. He shifted, unsure whether he should go comfort her. He trusted her more than almost anyone else at this point, but he did not know if they were close enough for that. He recalled the glassy look on her face the few times they had talked about the vault. 

“It’s okay, you don’t need to say anymore,” the secretary, Ellie said. 

“So we’re talking about a group of cold-hearted killers, but they waited until something went wrong to resort to violence. That and the fact that it was an infant that was taken confirms it. This isn’t a random kidnapping. Whoever took him had an agenda,” he deduced. 

MacCready wondered if the mechanical brain helped him come to that conclusion so quickly. 

“Hmm… There’s a lot of groups in the Commonwealth who take people,” he continued, “Raiders, super mutants, the Gunners, and of course, there’s the Institute.” 

“Well, it definitely was not super mutants, and they were too quick, clean, and professional to be raiders,” Flynn explained. 

“And it definitely sounds like a job the Gunners would take, but they wouldn’t decide to do that on their own,” MacCready interjected. 

“Which leaves the Institute,” she sighed, “Do you really think they're responsible?” 

“Well, they’re the boogeyman of the Commonwealth. Something goes wrong, everyone blames them. Easy to see why. Those early models are a force of nature, or science rather. Killing anything that gets in their way. Then you have the newer models that are as good as human. Pulling strings from the shadows. And no one knows why they do it, what their plans are, or where they are. Not even me,” Valentine explained. MacCready was not sure how much he bought the fact that Valentine did not do anything. He hoped he was not lying. 

Flynn shook her head, “Either way we need to focus on Shaun.” 

“You’re right. All this speculation is getting us off topic. Let’s focus on what you saw. What did these kidnappers look like?” he asked. 

“You’ll, uh, need to take this with a grain of salt. I was… I was stuck in a cryostasis pod, and the glass was foggy,” she warned, “There were three people there, I think, but I only saw two. One was wearing a hazmat suit, so I couldn’t see her face or anything. The man on the other hand, I did see his face. He was bald, and I think he had a scar on the left side of his face.” 

“Wait,” he said, his expression suddenly changing, “It couldn’t be… You didn’t hear the name “Kellogg” at all, did you?” 

“Uh, I don't think so? Why?” 

“It’s way too big of a coincidence. Ellie, what notes do we have about the Kellogg case?” 

“The description matches,” she said, looking through her notes, “Bald head. Scar. Reputation for dangerous mercenary work, but no one knows who his employer is.” 

“I doubt it’s the Gunners. I’d recognize the name,” MacCready blurted. 

“Which doesn’t help matters,” Valentine sighed, “Anyway, he bought a house here in town, didn’t he?” 

“Yeah, that’s right. The house in the abandoned West Stands. The boy with him was around ten years old.” 

“He had a kid with him? That’s not reassuring,” Flynn groaned. 

“No kidding. Whether it’s another kidnaped kid, or his own. Either way they left a while ago, but the house is still there. Why don’t we take a walk over there? See if we can figure out where he went.” 

“Alright,” She said standing up and turning to MacCready and Piper, “Why don’t you two wait in the market or something? We’ll come get you when, and if, we find anything. I think all of us going up there will cause a bit of a scene.” 

“You’re not taking Dogmeat with you again?” MacCready asked. Part of him hoped they would not be including Piper anymore. He was already getting tired of the suspicious ways she glared at him. 

Flynn frowned at him, “I was talking about you and Piper. Besides, I am taking Dogmeat with me. Might need his nose.” 

“Whatever you say, Boss,” he sighed. He knew there was no point in arguing. There were more important things they needed to get done. 

Together they all left Valentine’s cramped office. Instead of heading directly to the market, he leaned against a wall, and watched Flynn, Valentine, and Dogmeat ascend the stairs. 

He noticed that Piper had not wandered off either. 

“Can I help you with anything?” he asked sarcastically. 

“You’re a merc, aren’t you?” she asked. He could hear the judgement in her voice. He was more than used to it at this point. 

He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I am. Why do you give a f- why do you care?” 

“Because I don’t understand why you two are traveling together. She’s the general of the Minutemen, isn’t she?” 

“Yeah,” he said simply. 

“So, why is she traveling with a mercenary?” 

“Because she hired me, pays me well, and I do a damn good job of watching her back,” he scoffed, turning to the market. He wondered if he could buy any stimpaks off of the doctor. 

“Shouldn’t she be traveling with one of her Minutemen?” she demanded as she followed him into the market. 

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “but she doesn’t want to spread everyone too thin, and we aren’t here on Minuteman business.” 

“But-” 

MacCready cut her off, “Look, I get you aren’t thrilled about having to work alongside a fu- damn merc, but I’m not going to go anywhere. Take your issues up with the Boss.” 

She pursed her lips, but did not say anything more. He knew at this point she was probably invested in where this was all going, given she was a reporter. It was going to be an interesting story, he could not exactly blame her for sticking around. 

She walked off to where who he assumed was her sister was, selling her news articles. He walked over to the doctor to try to buy some stimpaks off of him. 

Just as he finished up bartering with the doctor Dogmeat went bounding past him being followed by Flynn and Valentine. 

“We gotta go!” was all she said as they ran past. He pocketed the stimpaks as he took off after them. Despite what he had hoped, Piper followed them as they ran past. 

Neither Nick nor Flynn offered any explanation as to what was happening until Dogmeat stopped running, and started sniffing around at a pond just outside of Diamond City. 

”When we searched Kellogg’s house we didn’t find anything but some of his old belongings, so we’re using Dogmeat to track his scent to find him,” Valentine explained. 

“Makes sense to me,” MacCready said, panting slightly. He really needed to stop smoking. 

“Another one of his stogies,” Flynn muttered while picking up a cigar. Her face wore a steely expression. This was more than focus. MacCready had seen her focused on taking down raiders and Gunners, but this was different. This was personal. As personal as taking down Winlock and Barnes, but he had no idea what was going through her head. 

She held out the cigar for Dogmeat to smell, and he took off again. She ran after him wordlessly. She barely reacted when they were ambushed by molerats, but there was a flicker of pure anger on her face when they found a group of dead bodies. They looked like raiders, but there was no way to be sure. That look she had made him glad he was on her side. 

“Do you think Kellogg did this?” Piper asked, voicing his thoughts for him. 

“If it was, it was pretty irresponsible for him to leave this behind,” Valentine responded, picking up a swath of bloody bandages. 

_I thought he was supposed to be a professional,_ he thought, as Dogmeat picked up Kellogg’s scent. 

When they got up they were met by a pack of feral mongrels, which were more of a nuisance than anything else. MacCready always felt a little bad having to deal with them. He wondered how many were just abandoned pets. Then a yao guai attacked. He felt bad about killing it, because he knew they wouldn’t be able to get the meat. A waste in his eyes. It was better than having to live off of molerat. 

“He really chose the path of most resistance, didn’t he?” Valentine quipped as they fought their way through a pack of ferals. 

MacCready would have responded, but he was more focused on keeping the ferals off of him and Flynn. He hated them so much. He hated the way they moved, and he hated the noises they made. 

“Mac,” a voice said, tearing him from his thoughts, “we gotta keep going.” 

He looked up at Flynn. There was a different worry on her face. He glared at the dead feral one last time before running to catch up with the others. They had gotten a fair ways away. 

“Damn,” he said when he finally caught up. The dead body of a woman, an innocent trader probably, lay next to a completely dismantled protectron. The goods she had been hauling were strewn across the broken pavement. On the opposite side of the road a heavily damaged assaultron was barely online. 

“Alert: critical signs,” it repeated over and over. 

“Do you think Kellogg did this?” Piper asked. Her voice was quiet with horror. 

“Identity confirmed. Tracking known mercenary Kellogg…” the assaultron answered. 

“Bastard,” Flynn cursed as she picked up the cigar that had been discarded next to it. Her steely expression was slowly forming into anger. He could see bits of frustration working their way in. 

“We’re going to find him, Boss.” 

She simply nodded in response, before they took off again. They stumbled upon another wad of bloody bandages and a herd of radstags. He was starting to wonder if he was leaving the bandages behind on purpose. 

MacCready glanced at his watch. They had been chasing down Kellogg for a little over two hours at this point. As they ran into a crumbling town MacCready was about to suggest they take a break. If Kellogg was as much of a threat as he was made out to be, they were going to need all of the energy they could get. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed Dogmeat was leading them to a large building with live turrets on the roof. Luckily he was not the only one to notice. 

Flynn quickly shrugged off her bag. She had sewn a patch of cloth onto her bag to look like a pocket. In reality it was just a flap to cover a handful of grenades clipped to the side of her bag. 

“How good are you at throwing things?” she asked Valentine and Piper. 

“Probably better than most,” Valentine responded. 

“Unless you want me to help break down the wall, I’ll pass,” Piper said. 

Flynn nodded, handing Valentine a grenade. Together they lobbed the grenades forward. Both hit their marks. She threw a third, which destroyed the final turret. 

The moment it was a pile of scrap metal Dogmeat was on the move. He led them up the steps of the building to a barricaded front door. He stopped and started barking. 

“I think we’ve found where he is,” Valentine said. 

She nodded. She bent down to pet Dogmeat and to tell him how well he did. When she straightened back up she reminded him of when she had first introduced herself, except angrier. 

“Then we’ll find a way in. I think there is an entrance to a parking garage on the side of the building we came from. We should start looking there,” she said. She sounded like she did when she gave orders at The Castle. 

She led them down to the parking garage, and found that she was right. There was an unblocked door that led directly into the building. 

The moment he walked into the building, MacCready was met with the sound of more turrets. He groaned quietly. Flynn was going to run out of grenades at this rate. 

There were stairs to their left, and a door right in front of them. Dogmeat immediately went to the door. Flynn went to open it, but it would not open. 

“Damn. It’s chained,” she explained. 

They carefully made their way up the stairs instead, following Dogmeat. MacCready marveled at how smart he was. 

On the second landing there was a terminal, a protectron unit, and a set of doors. One of the doors was hanging off of the frame. Flynn approached the terminal. MacCready assumed it was to try to disengage the turrets, but immediately stopped when they all heard robotic voices. They were not the typical robots. 

“Gen twos,” Piper whispered. 

Neither MacCready or Flynn knew enough about the Institute to question her. Flynn nodded at him to poke around with his rifle, and see if he could take down a few. 

He took one step forward when they heard one of voices say, “An enemy may be utilizing stealth.” 

He looked at Flynn, waiting to see what she wanted to do. She looked at Valentine, unsure what to do. 

“You cannot remain undetected for long,” the voice said. This time it was accompanied by the sound of footsteps. He watched as her face morphed to say, ‘Fuck it.’ He immediately got the memo, and moved to let her go in front of him, the way they had fought together over the past month. The others quickly caught on to the plan. 

Together, guns ablazing, they cleared out the floor. It was crawling with synths. MacCready was impressed that Valentine’s guess that the Institute was somehow involved was right. Their suspicions that Kellogg was there were also correct, as the synths kept talking about him. 

When all the synths and turrets were dealt with, Dogmeat led them to an elevator. 

“I hope this old thing can hold all of us,” Flynn muttered. She pressed the call button. 

MacCready watched as she awkwardly played with the collar of her vault suit. The nerves were finally getting to her. Part of him wanted to say something to reassure her, but the elevator dinged and opened before he could even open his mouth. 

They took the elevator down to the lower level where they had originally tried to enter. They followed Dogmeat deeper into the building destroying every turret, trap, and synth that got in their way. Eventually they arrived at a door with a tension trigger. 

As MacCready knelt down to disarm it a voice came over an intercom. 

“Well, if it isn’t my old friend, the frozen TV dinner. Last time we met you were cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler,” it taunted. 

“Was that him?” Flynn asked, turning to Piper and Valentine. Her voice was a mixture of anger, determination, and, although it was barely noticeable, worry. 

“Yeah,” said Valentine. 

When he disengaged the trigger, he turned and looked up at Flynn. Her face Looked exactly like her tone. 

“We’re going to take him down, Boss,” he said, trying to comfort her. 

She did not acknowledge him. Instead she put her steely face back on, and followed Dogmeat. That worried him. He did not want to see her fall down a hole like that. Taking down raiders and Gunners was one thing. It was the right thing to do. Something like this, however, it was a slippery slope due to all the emotions. 

Kellogg continued to taunt her, as they drew closer and closer. He was not sure what to make of her lack of reaction. She never got like this when the raiders or whatever bad guys taunted her. She always taunted them back. 

Eventually they got to what looked like Kellogg’s makeshift bedroom. On the opposite side of the room there was a security door with the locks engaged. 

Before any of them walked in MacCready blocked the door. He wanted to do his best to keep her from going down that dark road, but he knew she would not listen otherwise. It was his job to keep her safe. 

“What are you doing?” she asked impatiently. Valentine and Piper gave him a quizzical look. 

“Before you properly face him down, you need to listen to me, Boss,” he explained. 

She looked at him expectantly. 

He took a deep breath, “Look, I know you are no stranger to taking down the bad guy, but this is not some random raider boss. You’re doin’ this for more personal reasons. This stuff can fu- can mess up your head. I’m just making sure you don’t let him get in your head.” 

“He’s not wrong,” Valentine agreed, “I’ve seen this stuff ruin good people.” 

She stared up at MacCready, and sighed, “I’m not letting him, and I’m not going to let him get in my head. I promise.” 

He believed her, or at least he believed that she was not going to let her anger get the better of her. He stepped aside and let everyone in. 

As soon as Flynn approached the security door Kellogg’s voice came on the intercom again, but this time it was not to taunt her. 

“Okay. You made it. I’m just up ahead. My synths are standing down. Let’s talk,” he said, and the door swung open. 

She glanced behind her shoulder at them all, and nodded. She switched her pistol for her shotgun, and headed through the door. 

As they entered the command center the lights dramatically switched on. Kellogg walked out into the open with his arms raised above his head. A synth stood to his right behind him. MacCready noticed another behind them in the corner near the door. 

“There she is,” Kellogg said, “The most resilient woman in the Commonwealth.” 

“Where’s the kid?” Flynn demanded. Dogmeat stopped right at her side, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. 

“You mean Shaun? He’s a good kid. A bit older than you last saw him, but I think you know that by now. You’re not going to find him,” he said cooly. The calmness of his voice sent a shiver down MacCready’s back. 

“Don’t you think you’ve underestimated me enough?” She said, leveling her gun. 

“I’m not underestimating you. At least not now. You aren’t going to find him, because he is in the Institute. His home.” 

“The Institute? As if that’s going to stop me. I’ll find him, wherever he is,” her words sounded like a promise. 

“You know, more people should act like you. You’re acting the way I would hope to if I was in your shoes. But I think we’ve been talking for long enough. You know how this has to end,” he said, almost completely emotionless. 

“Fuck you, Kellogg.” 

She shot him twice in the chest before he could even raise his revolver. The two synths fell almost as quickly. 

MacCready turned from the synth he had just gunned down to where Flynn was standing over Kellogg’s dead body. She had a look of defeat on her face. 

“You did the right thing. He wasn’t going to talk,” he said. He did not get a response for her. 

“‘Kidnapper and Murder Gets His Brains Blown Out By One Of His Only Surviving Victims.’ It would be a great headline if we still didn’t have one of the biggest mysteries in the Commonwealth to solve,” Piper sighed. 

“Gets his brains blown out… hmmm,” Valentine said before MacCready could turn to glare at Piper. 

“What?” Piper asked. 

“His brains. A man like him would know how to get into the Institute,” he explained. 

“But like I said, he wasn’t going to talk,” MacCready said. 

“And I don’t feel like opening a portal to Hell,” Flynn muttered. 

“I’m not talking about the paranormal. There’s a place called the Memory Den in Goodneighbor. They specialize in memories, and the doctor there is an expert on brains.” 

“I know the place. I’ve never been there myself, but I’m pretty sure they need the people to be living,” MacCready said. 

“We don’t have any other options. You’re going to need me to introduce you to the doctor, and I need to go there anyway.” 

Flynn finally looked up at them and flatly said, “I’m not dragging a dead body all the way to Goodneighbor.” 

Under different circumstances MacCready would have laughed, but the broken tone of her voice curbed any laughter. 

“All we need is his brain.” 

“Nick, that’s disgusting,” Piper said, gagging slightly. 

“We could probably use one of the medkit boxes…” Flynn muttered. 

“Seriously?” Piper and MacCready demanded. 

She ignored them, and focused on Valentine, “Do you think you’re going to be able to do anything about this?” 

Realizing that they were going to actually go through with it, MacCready turned around. He was fine with different bullet wounds, but when violence was taken to this level he had a weak stomach. It just reminded him of the horrible things mutants and ferals do. Dogmeat must have sensed his discomfort, as he pressed himself against his leg. He heard them shuffle around, and then the sickening crunch of the skull cracking. He heard other disgusting noises as they did whatever they were doing. 

“What the hell?” he heard Flynn exclaim. 

“Cybernetics,” Valentine explained, “We just hit the jackpot.” 

He heard the snapping shut of a plastic container, before Valentine said, “I’m going to poke around in that terminal.” 

After a few moments the security doors swung open. 

MacCready did turn around, as he did not want to see the carnage. He asked over his shoulder, “Find anything.” 

“Just that he wasn’t lying.” 

Flynn sighed, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” 

As she walked past him, he reached out and squeezed her arm gently. Physical affection was not something that existed between them, but he wanted to do something to comfort her. She did not jump or pull away. She simply stared at his hand. When she looked at him, he tried to give her a sympathetic look before he let go. 

They all walked to the nearest elevator, and piled in. It opened into a room on the roof. A security door was on the other side of the room with a terminal right next to it. MacCready heard an odd noise coming from outside, and he could not quite place it. Flynn used the terminal to open the door, and he was the first to step outside. Immediately his eyes flew to the hills, and found the source of the noise. 

“Son of a….” 

The Brotherhood of Steel’s airship was coming in over the hills surrounded by vertibirds. 

“I don’t believe it,” Piper exclaimed. 

As the airship sailed overhead a voice boomed from it, “People of the Commonwealth. Do not interfere. Our intentions are peaceful. We are the Brotherhood of Steel.” 

Together they stood there in shocked silence as they watched it sail toward Boston. 

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing.” 

Valentine’s words hung in the air, giving it a chill. 

It took another moment before Flynn finally spoke up, “What. The. Hell.” 

“I dunno, Boss, but it certainly isn’t good.” 

“I hope I don’t have to deal with that too,” she sighed before leading the way off of the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally supposed to be longer, but I decided to split it into two parts, because it was getting really long


	9. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kellogg's memories affect MacCready, and things may start to be developing.

They stumbled into Goodneighbor just after sunset. They would have Gotten there sooner had they not run straight into a horde of Super mutants. They had miraculously gotten through Kellogg and his synths without any injuries, but the mutants had left them pretty banged up. Flynn had a new scar on her chin. 

MacCready let himself relax a little as they approached The Memory Den. He knew Goodneighbor well, and the people, most of them, knew better than to mess with him. 

His eyes widened when they entered The Memory Den. He had never actually been inside before. It was quite hard to get in, and cost more caps than he was comfortable spending on something like this. The high tech loungers contrasted the ornate, red drapes and rugs. They were in surprisingly great shape despite everything. A woman in a fancy dress was lounging on a couch in the middle of the stage at the end of the room. Valentine walked up to the woman. 

“Mr. Valentine, I thought you had forgotten about little old me,” she purred. 

“May have walked out of The Den, but I’d never walk out on you,” he flirted back. MacCready’s nose scrunched up a little in disgust. 

“Hmph. Amari’s downstairs, you big flirt.” 

Valentine led them behind the stage, and down the stairs to a makeshift lab. There were several tables and cabinets with several different medical items. There were two different loungers, several different kinds of technical equipment that MacCready had no idea about, and a computer the doctor was using. There was an office chair between the loungers, and a couch against the wall. He wondered about the couch. 

“Doctor Amari?” Valentine said. 

“Yes? I take it this isn’t a social call.” 

Flynn walked up to Valentine, and stopped next to him. She clutched the blood stained medkit in her hands. 

“We need the memories from a man named Kellogg,” she explained, “But he’s dead.” 

Amari got a horrified look on her face, “Besides the fact that you’re asking me to defile a corpse, the memory loungers require _living_ brains to function.” 

“This dead brain had inside knowledge of the Institute, Amari. The biggest scientific secret of the Commonwealth. You need this, and so do we,” Valentine argued. 

Amari sighed, “Fine. Do you… do you have it with you?” 

“This is… what we have,” Flynn said, handing over the medkit. 

She popped it open, and exclaimed, “What’s this? This isn’t a brain! This is… wait…” she picked up what was inside, “This is the hippocampus! And this thing attached to it. A neural interface.” 

“Those circuits look awfully familiar,” Valentine muttered. 

“I’m not surprised. From what I’ve seen, all Institute technology has a similar architecture.” 

“Go on, Doctor,” Flynn said. 

“Mister Valentine is an older generation synth,” she explained, “Institute technology being what it is… The brain implant could fit him. But that’s… an incredible risk to take. We’re talking about wiring something to his brain.” 

Maccready watched as Flynn’s face became swamped with worry. 

Before she could say anything, however, Valentine said, “Don’t worry about me. I’m well passed the warranty date, anyway.” 

“Are you sure?” she asked. Her worry was practically tangible. 

“The Institute is responsible for who knows how much of the things that go wrong out there. I’m sure about this,” he assured her as he walked over to the office chair to sit down, “If I start cackling like a grizzled mercenary, pull me out, okay?” 

“Let’s see here…” Amari muttered, “I need you to keep talking to me, Mister Valentine. Any slight change in your cognitive functions could be dire. Are you feeling any different?” 

“There’s a lot of… flashes… static… I can’t make sense of any of it, Doc.” 

“That’s what I was afraid of. The mnemonic impressions are encoded. It appears the Institute has one last failsafe. There’s a lock on the memories in the implant.” 

The defeated look was making it’s way back on to Flynn’s face. MacCready could see her becoming exhausted by everything. Her voice was getting close to being there too, “please tell me there’s a way past this.” 

“Let me think… The encryption is too strong for one mind, but… what if we used two?” she suggested. 

“What do you mean?” Flynn asked. 

“We load you two into the memory loungers. Mister Valentine here will act as the host, while your consciousness drives through whatever memories we can find.” 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” MacCready asked. He was not about to lose Flynn to a technical failure that could be avoided. 

“I have to do this. We don’t have any other way,” she said. Despite the softness of her voice, he knew he was not going to change her mind. 

“I’ll be okay,” she reassured. She sounded like she was talking more so to herself than him. 

He frowned at her. He had been more than okay with Valentine sacrificing himself for this, but she was different. He had seen her put herself in harm's way before, but he knew how to nurse a bullet wound, not whatever this might do. 

“Whenever you’re ready, please take a seat in the memory loungers,” Amari instructed. 

Flynn looked at Valentine and nodded. 

“See you on the other side,” he joked. 

She looked at MacCready one last time with a soft smile before she climbed into the lounger. Once she was settled the The glass top closed. 

Amari turned from her terminal to MacCready and Piper, “YOu to may want to come over here to observe what they are experiencing.” 

He nodded and stood behind her where he could see the screen. He glanced at Piper, who had been quiet this whole time. She looked as worried as he felt. 

“Initiating brainwave migration between the transplant and the host,” Amari announced. MacCready assumed that meant she was starting everything. 

He looked at the screen. It was a lot of technical jargon that he did not understand. 

“Mnemonic activity coming from the transplant! It’s deteriorated, but it’s there! We are going to load you into the strongest memories we can find. They might not be… stable… Just hold on!” 

He wondered how they could hear her. 

The screen changed. Now it showed a webbing of, well he did not really know what they were if he was honest. 

“Ah, good. The simulation seems to be working,” Amari explained, “although the memories are quite fragmentary. I’ll try to step you through the intact memories, and hope we find one that gives us a clue as to the Institute’s location.” 

She did somethings on the terminal until she found a memory for Flynn to walk them through. It was a bedroom with a child on the bed and a woman sitting in a chair next to it. A man could be heard yelling at them from outside the room. A radio was on. MacCready assumed Kellogg was the kid. 

“Wait,” Piper said, “is the radio talking about the NCR forming?” 

He gave her a confused look, “Wouldn’t that make him around a hundred years old?” 

Their side conversation was interrupted by the next memory. They were now looking at a young adult Kellogg in a kitchen with a woman and a baby in a crib. His wife and child. They were talking about having to move, because of his new job. It sounded like mercenary work, or something like it. MacCready felt himself starting to be overcome with a sad sense of Déjà vu. He looked away before his mind started to wander too much. The scene was far more familiar than he liked. 

When he looked back they were on to the next memory. He was being taunted by some mysterious voice. When he realized they were taunting him over the death of his wife and child. He knew the look on Kellogg’s face all too well. He was starting to feel more and more uneasy. 

The next one made his blood run cold. He was sat in a bar discussing a mercenary job with two guys. The situation by itself was practically nothing. Bars were common places to pick up clients. It was attitude, the way he spoke, and the look on his face that threw MacCready off. It was like looking at himself from just a little over a month ago. The night before he had been hired by Flynn. There were so many similarities. Too many. He started to quietly panic. His mind raced as he thought about how similar they were, and if he might end up like him. 

He was dragged out of his thoughts by the sound of Flynn’s muffled yelling and screaming. His head whipped around to look at where she was laying in the memory lounger. Her breathing was faster and she had a pained look on her face, but she was quiet. He looked at the screen instead. He was met with the scene of a row of odd looking pods inside of what looked like a vault. He quickly realized what this memory was. He heard her and the other vault dwellers banging on their pods and yelling. He watched as Shaun’s father begged desperately for them to not take him. He watched as Kellogg shot him without a second thought. He saw the horror on the mother’s face after the gunshot. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that again,” Amari said, “I found another intact memory… Whenever you’re ready.” 

He glanced over at Flynn. She was still taking ragged breaths. He could not imagine what she was going though right now. She was living through what he figured was one of her worst memories again. 

It took a few moments for the next memory to start. He did not blame her. This one was in a shack. He was sitting in a chair while a child sat on the floor. It took him a moment to realize this was in Diamond City, and that was Shaun. 

They watched as a man walked in an odd leather getup and sunglasses. 

“One of these days you’re going to get your head blown off just barging in here like that,” Kellogg said. 

“Minimizing my exposure to civilians is a prior-” 

“Forget I said anything,” he said, cutting the man off, “So, what’s the big crisis this time?” 

“New orders for you. One of our scientists has left the Institute,” the synth siad. MacCready assumed he was a synth. 

“Left? As in?” 

“He’s gone rogue,” he explained, “Name is Doctor Brian Virgil. We know he is hiding somewhere in the glowing sea, here’s his file.” 

Kellogg took the file and said, “Guess you’re taking the kid back then.” 

“Affirmative. Your only mission is to find and eliminate Virgil.” 

“You’re taking me home to my father?” Shaun asked. MacCready felt his heart twinge at that. The kid did not even know about his real parents. 

“Yes, stand next to me and hold still,” the synth affirmed. 

He then said some things MacCready could not quite understand, and with a crack of blue lightning they were gone and the memory ended. 

“Did they just…” he began to ask. 

“Teleportation,” Amari confirmed, “Now it all makes sense. No one can find the entrance, because there isn’t one! Let me pull you out of there, as soon as you’re ready.” 

After a few moments of her working on the terminal the simulation ended. Valentine woke up before Flynn did, which worried MacCready a bit. He slowly got up from the lounger, as Amari asked him various questions. MacCready ignored them. He was too worried to listen. 

After Piper led Valentine upstairs with Dogmeat’s help, Amari addressed MacCready, “It’s normal for one to not wake up immediately… especially if they witnessed a traumatic memory.” 

He simply nodded in response. 

“When she does wake up,” she continued, “I’m going to need you to keep a close eye on her.” 

“I already do,” he muttered. 

After a few moments her eyes opened, and so did the pod. He felt relief wash over him. 

Amari helped her out of the lounger, asking if she was alright. 

“I’m fine,” she tried to assure them. She sounded a little pained and tired, but okay. She looked the same. 

“That’s good, but I want you to keep monitoring yourself. We have to be sure there’s no long-term side effects. Are you… ready to talk about what happened in there?” 

She took a deep breath, “We got what we needed. Now we know how they get around undetected.” 

MacCready frowned at her, but he did not say anything. He was not surprised that she was focusing on what needed to be done. 

“Yes,” Amari agreed, “Their greatest secret has finally been revealed, but that only leads to more questions. How does it work? Where do we go next?” 

“That scientist Kellogg was supposed to track down. Virgil? We should track him down,” MacCready suggested. 

“You’re right! A rogue Institute scientist could answer all kinds of questions, but didn’t they say he was in The Glowing Sea? That doesn’t make much sense. No one goes there. Not even if they’re desperate.” 

“Why? What’s The Glowing Sea?” Flynn asked. 

That took MacCready aback. At first he worried that the simulation had messed with her head, but then he remembered that she’s only been out of the vault for a month and a half. Sometimes she emulated so much confidence, and she was such a quick learner that he forgot. 

“It’s essentially a sea of radiation. It’s rumored that’s where the bomb dropped here, so if you’re going to go there you’ll need a way to combat the radiation,” Amari explained. 

She nodded, “I’ll find a way to get through the rads. Don’t worry.” 

“If you really are going to track him down, be safe, and good luck.” 

“Thanks Doc,” she nodded, “Come on, MacCready.” 

“Valentine and Piper are upstairs by the way,” he informed her as she turned to the entrance to the lab. 

She nodded. Her steps were slow, but she did not stumble at all. He still followed her closely in case she did. 

They found the other two sitting on a couch. When they approached there seemed to be something off about Valentine. 

“Hey, how are you holding up?” Flynn asked him. 

“Hope you got what you were lookin’ for inside my head. He he. I was right. I should’ve killed you when you were on ice,” the words from his mouth said. Although it came from his mouth, it was not his voice. It was Kellogg’s. 

“Nick?” Piper exclaimed. 

He blinked, “What?” 

“You just sounded like Kellogg,” Flynn explained. 

“I did? Well, I feel fine now. Amari did say there will be some mnemonic impressions. How are you holding up?” 

“I’m fine, just need some rest.” 

MacCready had a feeling that was not the whole truth, so he held his tongue on. Instead he suggested, “We should head to The Rexford then. See if they have any free rooms.” 

“Oh God. I forgot we are going to have to stay here overnight,” Piper burst out, as they left. 

He did not really blame her for that, as much as he appreciated Goodneighbor. 

Luckily for them The Rexford had two empty rooms for them. MacCready retrieved the keys for the rooms, and he and Flynn wished their new allies goodnight. 

When they reached their room Dogmeat immediately curled up at the end of the bed closest to the door. MacCready could not help the small smile that appeared on his face, but it quickly melted quickly when he looked at Flynn. She had discarded her pack at the foot of the other bed. She sat on the edge facing the other. She stared at the wall with a glassy look. It was the same one she had the first two times the vault was brought up with him. 

He set his pack on his bed, and then sat next to her. 

“You did the right thing today,” he said, trying to comfort her. 

“I know I did,” she sighed, “I just wish I could’ve done more then.” 

“You can’t think like that. It’s not your fault.” 

She did not say anything. She just kept staring. 

MacCready stared down at his hands. He thought of the memories he was reminded of. He thought maybe, just maybe, a similar story could comfort her. He took a deep breath and hoped he was not being selfish. 

“I know what it’s like to have someone die, and to blame yourself for it,” he confessed, his voice a little shaky, “a few years back my wife and I decided to hole up in a metro station. We didn’t know the thing was filled with ferals.” He could feel his eyes start to sting, and he knew his voice would break, but he continued, “They were on her before I could even fire a shot. They tore her apart, and there was nothing I could do. I blamed myself for her death. I… still do. Don’t do that to yourself.” 

He closed his eyes when she rested her head on his shoulder. It had been awhile since someone had touched him that gently other than patching up a physical wound. He did not need to have his eyes open to know she was close to tears too. They had both been through a lot, and everything that had happened that day hurt like a punch to the gut. 

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. 

“I am too. There’s nothing I can do about what happened, but you can still find the kid… and I’ve got your back the whole way,” he promised. After that day it was more to himself than to her. 

He craned his head awkwardly to look at her. He could not get a clear look of her face due to the angle, and her red hair being in the way, but he could see she was exhausted. 

“You need to get some sleep,” he suggested, gently nudging her off his shoulder. It felt oddly cold when her head moved away. When she sat up fully he realized she had a light patchwork of freckles on her face. He was not sure if they were new, or if he had just not noticed before. He stood up awkwardly when he realized how close they were. 

“Thank you for not running off on me,” she said. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Boss,” he teased. 

He fought back a smile when he earned a scoff from her. 

They went about their routine for when they didn’t have to take turns keeping watch, which ended with him laying on his back and her laying on her side facing away from him. 

MacCready reached his hand into his inner jacket pocket, just above his heart. He produced the small, wooden toy soldier Lucy had given him. He had wanted to mention Duncan, but he was not ready for that. He did not have enough caps to buy a proper team, and he did not think there were enough Minutemen to spare for what needed to be done either. No, that would have to wait a bit longer as much as it pained him. 

Thoughts of Kellogg crawled back into his brain, as his thumb ran over the figurine. He wondered how similar they really were. How close… 

_No,_ he thought, cutting himself off, _I’m going to be a better man. I promise._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This lowkey made me start to tear up when writing towards the end.


	10. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia reflects on the events with Kellogg and updates Preston and Sturges

Claudia woke up shivering on the bare, dirty mattress. She was unsure how big the difference in temperature was between the old and current versions of the Commonwealth. If it was colder or warmer than before the bombs. Either way, she was not used to winter in the Commonwealth. The lack of blankets did not help. 

She pushed herself into a sitting position. Her legs were sore from being on the road, running, all day the day prior. She stared at the wall ahead of her. Every time she blinked she saw Kellogg’s face. 

She had felt herself get so unbelievably angry. It scared her how angry she got. She knew she was in the right. Kellogg was a down right bastard, but she hated herself for the contempt she felt. 

She glanced at MacCready who was snoring quietly on the other bed. He was laying on his back with his hat pulled over his eyes. She could only really see his chin, but his body looked relaxed. He was always so guarded, even around her. She had figured something had happened, given the wasteland was little better than a hell hole. She had not anticipated he had lost his wife. Especially since she assumed they were about the same age. 

She replayed that moment from the night before over and over and over. She could hear the grief in his voice. His pleas for her to not blame herself like he did broke her heart. She did not know what exactly had triggered what happened, but she felt horrible. But that vulnerability pushed out any ideas that he might be just in it for the caps. 

She groaned as she got up. Part of her wished she could just stay in bed all day, even if the bed was gross. She grabbed her bag from next to Dogmeat. His head perked up as she reached for it. She scratched behind his ears, before she grabbed it. She quietly rifled through the bag before fishing out a canister of purified water. She downed half of it, before putting it back. 

She grabbed her Pip-Boy off of one of the nightstands next to her bed. She sat down on the side of the bed, facing the other. The backs of her knees hit the edge of the mattress. She was careful to turn down the volume before turning on the radio. She held it up to her ear to hear the sound of a fiddle playing. She waited for a few moments before McNiall’s voice came over announcing relative peace in the Commonwealth. 

She sighed in relief. At least at that moment they would not have to take a major detour on the way to Sanctuary. She needed proper rest, or at least the closest thing she could get. 

She let the sound of the fiddle come over for a few more minutes. She closed her eyes, listening to the music. The sound of the radio took her to some place out of time. For the smallest of moments it distracted her from everything. Then MacCready stopped snoring. 

“Mornin’, Boss,” he grunted sleepily. 

She hummed quietly in response, as she turned the radio off. 

He sat up, and took his hat off of his face. This was one of the few times she had seen him without his hat. His light brown hair was oily enough that when he pushed it back it held its shape. 

She felt her hand instinctively raise to feel her own hair. She missed being able to bathe regularly. 

He put his hat back on, and yawned. He shot her a concerned look before speaking, “Do you… do you want to talk about yesterday? What we’re going to do?” 

She sighed and picked at the pills on her knees. She did not want to focus on it anymore, but they needed a plan. 

“That doctor he was tracking is in the Glowing Sea, right? We need to find a way to get through the rads… and we should probably let Preston know.” 

“You’re actually going to go down there? Not only is it fu… very dangerous down there. This isn’t just a random merc we’re offing,” he warned. 

“It’s not exactly like we have a choice,” she argued back, “It’s more than just the kid at this point. My job is to protect the Commonwealth…” 

MacCready ran his hands over his face again, “Alright, if you’re sure. ” “We should probably get out of here before they start charging us extra,” he said, getting up from his bed, “We heading anywhere before going back to Sanctuary?” 

“Not as of right now. Nothing was on the radio,” she explained. 

“Straight to Sanctuary then.” 

***

They got to Sanctuary by mid afternoon. They had a run in with a small group of raiders, but other than that the Commonwealth was surprisingly peaceful. 

Claudia felt a sense of relief as soon as they saw the Red Rocket come into view. The Minutemen, with the help of some of the settlers in the area, had been doing a good job of keeping Concord clear of raiders and the occasional Gunner. At his point it was clear it was Minutemen territory. Animals, on the other hand, could not care less. She did not feel truly safe until they started to walk past the old gas station. 

Someone she did not recognize was standing guard in a shack at the Sanctuary end of the bridge. He was a rather tan man with dark hair. He eyed them suspiciously as they drew closer. She could see his grip on his gun tighten slightly. She could feel MacCready tense slightly next to her. 

“Welcome to Sanctuary,” the man said, “If you don’t mind me asking, who are you, and what’s your business here.” 

Claudia smiled softly. It was nice to know their new guard was taking his job seriously. 

“I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m General Claudia Flynn, and this,” she gestured to MacCready, “is MacCready.” 

She watched as his face changed from wary suspicion to surprise and slight embarrassment. 

“Sorry about the hostility Ma’am. I had no idea. My brother and I got in yesterday. It’s an honor to meet you. You gave us a new home, and the Commonwealth is getting better everyday thanks to you.” 

“Hearing that means a lot,” she blushed slightly at the praise. Out of the corner of her eye she saw MacCready roll his eyes. 

“I’m Gabriel Acosta, my brother Antonio is the night guard.” 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, and to know that we finally have guards here. You wouldn’t happen to know where Preston or Sturges are, would you?” she asked. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sturges should be in the workshop area, and I believe Major Garvey is helping out the Abernathy’s.” 

“Thank you,” she nodded, frowning slightly. She did not want to have to wait to talk to Preston any longer. 

“Glad to be of help, Ma’am,” he exclaimed, “Oh, and I believe Sturges wants to talk to you about something.” 

“Thank you,” she said again as they walked away. She glanced at Maccready who was scowling. 

“You good?” she asked. 

“He should’ve just let us in,” he grumbled. 

“He was just doing his job. Would you rather he let the place get overrun by raiders?” she joked. 

“No, but when he found out you’re the general he should’ve just let us in.” 

“He was saying thank you. You aren’t jealous that he wasn’t addressing you, are you?” she raised an eyebrow at him. 

“No, just, ugh whatever,” he grumbled. 

She scoffed and shook her head. 

After they dropped their stuff off at their house, they headed off to find Sturges. They found him exactly where Gabriel said he was. He was standing in front of a table near the old workbench stripping apart what looked like an old car motor. 

“Hey, Sturges,” she greeted. 

He looked up from the motor, “Hey Boss! MacCready,” he nodded at him, “It’s good to see you two again,” a confused look came over his face, “Where’s the kid?” 

“Things didn’t go as we hoped. We’re going to have to talk to you and Preston about it,” she explained. 

“Damn. Well, at least I have good news. Found some parts to make a mic for your Pip-Boy. Make a portable HAM radio, so you can talk to the Castle without worry,” he offered. 

She brought her arms to her chest, like she was protecting it, “You sure you know what you’re doing?” 

“I’m not going to break it, if that’s what you’re worried about, or I’m at least ninety percent sure I’m not going to.” 

“That’s not reassuring,” she said. 

“At most the radio will be messed up,” he tried to assure her. 

She sighed and undid the Pip-boy, “Fine. If you see Preston, come find us.” 

***

Claudia sat on the couch in her old house. She flipped through some notes on the coffee table that Preston had written for her while she had been gone. MacCready washed the dishes from their dinner. 

Sturges had gotten a water purifier up and running in the time they had settled Sanctuary with some help from Codsworth. Claudia and MacCready had hauled a few buckets of water to their house. He heated up one, and was using some soap they had scavenged to clean the dishes. 

She jumped slightly when she heard someone rap on the front door. 

When she opened the door Sturges was standing there Pip-Boy in hand. 

“Good news, Boss. Both the mic and the Pip-Boy are in workin’ order, _and_ Preston’s back,” he smiled, hand it over. 

“Oh thank God,” she breathed, “This should definitely help. You guys ready to talk?” 

“Yes we are.” 

“Mac, you ready?” she asked, turning to face him. 

He frowned slightly at the use of the nickname, “Yeah, everything just needs to dry now.” 

The door to the Minutemen base creaked as she opened. Inside Preston was sitting at the table in the center of the room, waiting for them. 

“It’s good to see you again, General. MacCready,” Preston greeted, standing up. He was slowly becoming more and more tolerant of MacCready. 

“It’s good to see you too,” she smiled, “What did the Abernathys need help with?” 

“Saw some Gunners scouting them,” he explained, “but there were only three, so I didn’t have any issues taking care of them.” 

“Always better to have less Gunners in the world,” MacCready muttered. 

“You won’t have any arguments from me. Anyway, you said you needed to talk to us about what happened with Shaun?” Preston asked. 

“Yeah,” she said, folding her arms and leaning onto the table. She had been thinking about how she was going to start talking about this all day, but she still was not sure how. 

Eventually she sighed and asked, “What are your opinions on the Institute?” 

Preston narrowed his eyes at her, “I’m not really sure if I even believe they’re a thing. I think people are just being paranoid.” 

“Sturges?” 

“I gotta agree with Preston,” he shrugged, “Why do you ask?” 

She shifted uncomfortably, “We tracked down the man who kidnapped Shaun. Turns out I was too late. Ten years too late…” she shook her head, “He handed him over to the Institute. They are very much so real.” 

“Damn,” Preston swore, “That’s not good, but that explains a lot of disappearances.” 

“I’m sorry about that, Boss. Institute's the biggest mystery in the Commonwealth. No one even knows where they are,” Sturges said. 

“Maybe, but we might have a way to get in. They use teleportation, and there could be someone who can help us with that,” MacCready explained. 

“Well, that explains a lot,” Sturges said, “I’m not entirely surprised they figured that out given their Gen 3 synths. Now where is this miracle person?” 

“That’s the thing. He’s in the Glowing Sea,” she explained. 

Preston shook his head, “Are you sure this is a good idea? Not only are we messing with the Institute, you want to go into the Glowing Sea? That’s the most dangerous place in the Commonwealth.” 

“I know. Everyone’s told me, but we have to do this. I promised Nora I’d find her kid, and this isn’t even just about him anymore. This could affect everyone, and it’s our job to keep people safe, isn’t it?” 

She could see him mulling over her words. 

“You’re right,” he sighed, “Any ideas on how you’re going to pull this visit off?” 

“I was hoping you two would.” 

“Power armor should do the trick, but I’m not sending anyone out there in anything less than a T-51b,” Sturges offered. 

“Are the suits we have not good enough?” she asked. 

“Nah, both are T-45s, which means you’re going to have to keep an eye more than usual. I’m probably goin’ to have to make a few modifications too, so we’ll need parts.” 

“It’s better than nothing,” she sighed. 

“Alright then, looks like I’m goin’ to have a new project. If that’s it, I have some stuff to work on.” 

She nodded at him, and they wished each other goodnight. 

“You know about the Brotherhood ship, right?” Preston asked. 

“We saw it sail into the Commonwealth,” MacCready grumbled. Claudia glanced at him. She wondered why he was so grumpy. 

“What are we going to do about them? They aren’t exactly the most peaceful group.” 

“Keep an eye on them for now. I don’t want to have to start a war I don’t need to,” she ordered. As uneasy as it made her feel, she did not think this so-called Brotherhood of Steel was an immediate threat. Not to the Minutemen and their settlers at least. Despite that she could not shake the pit in her stomach. Something big was coming, she could tell.


	11. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the Life of Claudia and MacCready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly jealous MacCready, anyone?

Claudia woke up shivering. She drew her blankets tighter around herself. The cold was getting unbearable. She was not prepared to deal with the winter in New England. Wasteland or not. 

Eventually she was able to talk herself into getting up and out of her blankets. She shuddered as she got dressed. 

As she walked out from the hallway she saw MacCready leaning against the counter. Steam rose from a mug in front of him. A Grognak comic sprawled out next to it. It looked like he had gotten himself some new shirts when they went to Diamond City. A black sleeve met his wrists. He was still wearing the same old duster, though. How he was not freezing she did not know. 

"'Morning, Boss," he greeted, not looking up. 

"'Mor-" she cut herself off with a gasp. 

He gave her a worried look as she rushed to a window nearest to him. 

"Everything all right?" 

"It snowed!" she squealed. She marveled at the way the sunrise shined the fresh snow. Then she realized how that must have sounded. She cleared her throat, "It didn't snow where I grew up. This is the first time I've seen it since I was… four?" 

When she glanced at him he had a slightly amused look on his face. She rolled her eyes in response. 

“Is… is it radioactive?” she asked tentatively. 

He folded his arms across his chest, “Not anymore than the rain. Why?” 

“Just wondering,” she muttered. She looked down at her clothes. She was going to need to get proper winter wear. 

“We’re needed at Starlight, by the way,” he said, returning to his mug. 

“What’re you drinking?” 

“Tea.” 

“How am I both surprised and not?” she muttered to herself. She shook her head, “I’m going to repack my bag, and we’ll head over there when you’re ready?” 

“Good with me, Boss. Are we bringing Dogmeat?” 

“Nah. The poor thing needs rest.” 

She walked back to her room, and filled her bag again. This time, though, it was not bursting at the seams. She winced when she went through her ammo. They should have bought more when they were in Goodneighbor. 

She messed with her Pip-Boy while she waited outside for MacCready. Her eyes widened when she noticed the date. December nineteenth it read. 

“Do you know what Christmas is?” she asked as he walked outside. 

He looked like he just walked into a wall, “Uh, yeah. Why?” 

“Do people celebrate it?” 

“If they can. Why?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. 

“I just realized how close it is. I think it’d be nice if we can do it. I think everyone needs their spirits lifted,” she explained while they walked down the road to the bridge. 

“What’re you planning? That’s a hell of a lot of people.” 

“I was just thinking of everyone in Sanctuary. That isn’t that many people. It’s what? Nine people including us? I was just thinking of a nice dinner, not getting everyone presents. I don’t think I could afford that.” 

“You sure you want to do that? We don’t know if everyone’ll get along. We don't know a damn thing about those Acosta siblings,” he argued. 

She stopped walking. She stared ahead of them. Both of the brothers were at the edge of the bridge. Lucky for MacCready it seemed like they did not hear him. 

“What do you have against them? You got pretty grumpy yesterday.” 

He suddenly became flustered, “Nothing. We just can’t trust people we don’t fu- we don’t know.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him, “You trusted me pretty quickly. You trusted Preston and Sturges a decent amount decently quick.” 

“I trusted them, because I trust you. I trusted you, because you put a lot on the line for me,” he argued defensively. He did not seem angry, but he seemed to be getting more and more defensive and flustered. She was unsure if his face was red from the cold or something else. 

“Are you okay?” 

“I- what? I’m fine. Let’s just drop it,” he stammered, and walked on. 

_What the fuck?_ she thought, following him. 

He walked past the siblings without even acknowledging them. She waved as she jogged to catch up. 

The walk to Starlight was peaceful. Instead of looking like a dead wasteland, everything looked more like a winter wonderland. Despite how much she liked the peaceful beauty, though, she was not a fan of the cold. They were really going to need to take another trip to Diamond City. 

A small farm of carrots and a few shacks had been erected since the settlement had been established. A handful of people lived there now. Looking at Starlight and Sanctuary made Claudia proud. 

The man who had shown up first approached them. 

“It’s great to see you. Both of you. We could really use the help,” he said. 

She smiled, “Well that’s why we’re here. What’s wrong?” 

“It’s Lexington. The ferals are getting out of hand,” he explained, “We’re not expecting you to clear out all of them, but we know where a lot of them are coming from.” 

She nodded. 

“Do you have any rad meds on you?” MacCready asked. She was not surprised he butted in. He seemed to hate ferals more than anything, and as scared as he seems to be, he had not passed on the chance to take care of them. 

“Yeah.” 

“We’ll take care of the ferals for you. Where are they?” he asked. 

“The Super Duper Mart.” 

“I know where that is. We’ll take care of them,” she said, and smiled at the man as they walked away. 

“Do you actually know where that is?” MacCready asked. 

“For once, yes.” 

***

“Damn ferals,” Claudia cursed as the last one in the area fell. No one was kidding when they said the place was crawling with ferals. She nudged one of them between the aisles with her foot. 

“No way in hell. It can’t be…” she heard MacCready exclaim from the back of the store. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she walked up to him. 

He was staring through some windows into another room. It took her a moment to realize what he was looking at. It was a dead body. 

“That must have been one of the Minutemen that survived Quincy. Preston said they lost some people in Lexington,” she said sadly. She stared at the body. It was a tragedy. 

“Are you okay?” he asked gently when she did not speak or move. 

“Yeah. It’s just a reminder of how bad things can get. What we’re trying to prevent,” she mumbled. She shook her head, and moved on. Too many good people died to preventable things. She wanted to save as many people as she could now, even if it meant fighting off an unimaginable enemy. Even if it meant fighting off the Institute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, as I write about Claudia suffering, because she thinks it's too cold, I am suffering because it is too hot


	12. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a brief visit to Diamond City, they are tasked with clearing out some raiders. They end up getting snowed in.

MacCready woke with a jolt. The closing and opening of the door of the room at The Dugout startled him. 

“Relax, it’s just me,” Flynn said before he could properly react. 

He laid face down on the pillows of his bed for a moment, before he got up. It felt incredibly early. Why she had gotten up so early to talk to the detective, he did not know. He rolled over, and forced himself to get up. 

“How’d it go?” he asked, sleepily. 

“Good. He agreed to go with me,” she responded, setting down her bag and stretching. It seemed that it was too early for her too. He narrowed his eyes at the bag, though. It seemed bigger than normal, and he was unsure why she brought it just to talk to Valentine. She continued, “Not really surprised though. Seems like that thing where Kellogg hijacked him was a one time thing.” 

“Good to know,” he mumbled. As sarcastic as it sounded, he actually meant it. A rogue synth possessed by an old, heartless mercenary was the last thing they needed. Especially when he was supposed to escort Flynn through the Glowing Sea. 

“I have all of my stuff ready to go. I’ll be waiting out in the bar when you’re ready to go.” 

He nodded, and she left the room. He ran a hand over his face in an attempt to rub away the sleepiness. He put his duster, shoes, and hat on. He took the canister of purified water he placed on the nightstand next to his bed, and threw it into his bag. He grabbed his rifle and his bag, and left. 

His bag hung off of one shoulder and his rifle off of the other, as he walked up to Flynn. She was Adjusting the strap that kept her shotgun in place on her back. 

“Are we needed anywhere?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she sighed, “There’s some kind of issue at Hangman’s Alley. At least it isn’t out of the way.” 

“You won’t hear any complaints from me, Boss,” he replied. 

She scoffed, and off they went. MacCready frowned at the grey sky. Traveling in the snow was not the best idea, especially while it was snowing. 

A man was waiting for them just outside the east gate. 

“Who are you?” he demanded, reaching for his revolver. 

“Relax, we’re here to help. I’m the general,” Flynn explained. She raised her hands to show her innocence. 

His face shifted to surprise, “Wow, you guys got here quickly.” 

“We try to do our best,” Flynn smiled, “What’s the issue?” 

“Raiders. They set up shop in Back Street Apparel again.” 

“We’ll take care of them,” she assured him. 

“Thank you. We really need this,” the man said, and turned and entered the gate. 

“What did he mean by again?” MacCready asked as they turned back down the alley. 

“Preston cleared it out a day or so before we reclaimed the Castle. I guess they found out he did that,” she explained, “We need to figure out a way to keep places like that clear permanently. At least clear of raiders and Gunners. I’d have settlers move in, but some of these places aren’t safe enough.” 

He frowned as she started to get that glassy look she got when she thought about the past. As much as he did not like seeing her like that, he could not help but imagine how things were. She never talked about the past, so his imagination ran wild. 

It took them little to no time to get there, and less time to take care of the replaced turrets, and the two raiders on the outside. MacCready watched as a snowflake fell onto the side of his right hand. He had a feeling that they were probably not going to be leaving for a while. 

MacCready remained by the front door was Flynn dived into the room to take care of the two in the front room. When the latter of the two fell, she tossed him her pistol and switched to her shotgun. He really needed to invest in a better gun for close combat. 

There were only a handful in the building, making their lives a lot easier, or at least MacCready thought so. When he opened the front door again he was met with a snow storm. 

He shut the door with a groan. He did not want to be stuck in a building with several dead bodies. He had done it several times before, and he could wholeheartedly say he was not a fan. 

“What’s wrong?” Flynn asked as she came down the stairs. Her eyebrows were knit together. 

“Snow storm,” he replied simply. 

“Dammit,” she cursed. Her eyebrows changed from being furrowed in confusion to frustration, “How long do you think it is going to last?” 

He raised an eyebrow at her. That was not quite the reaction he was expecting, “I don’t know. Rest of the day? We can make it back to Diamond City or the Alley if it takes too long to let up.” 

“I’m not worried about rations, or surviving. I know we’ll be fine,” she ran a hand through her hair. The end of the sentence sounded more like a pause than a full stop. 

“What?” he asked. His own face taking on a look of confusion. 

She frowned, “It’s… it’s nothing. Feels silly now.” 

She turned and sat on the display case to her left. A heavy silence fell between them for a moment. She stared down at her hands which were fiddling with the edge of her zipper of her jacket. She blinked a few times, and shook her head. It was like she was trying to dissuade herself from something. 

He set his bag and rifle down next to the door, and walked next to her. He folded his arms across his chest awkwardly. He could tell she was upset. 

Before he said anything she cleared her throat, “I, uh, I thought I had a chance to have a chance at normal. For a small moment, but I guess I just need to accept that this,” she gestured to the room, “is the new normal. Tomorrow is Christmas. I was hoping…” her voice faltered for a moment, “hoping I could use that as a way to go back in time. Even if it was just for a moment. I know I seem like I just roll with the punches, that I just… I’m not affected by anything that’s happening, but that’s just how I’ve dealt with things.” 

He looked at her, unsure what to say. Her eyes were becoming red and watery. The tip of her nose, her cheeks, and her lips were getting redder too. She was going to cry, and he had no idea how to comfort her. Despite everything, she had not actually cried in front of him yet. Even when taking care of wounds, she would just grit her teeth, and dealt with it. 

“I have lost everything, and everyone. I had only moved here a few months before everything literally blew up, and then I woke up in this world. In this horrible strange world, alone. All alone. And it’s fucking me up, and I’ve just let it eat at me. I’ve just tried to bury it. I’ve hoped that if I just dove in head first, things would sort themselves out, but this new normal is so _different_ ,” her voice broke with a deep gasp, like she just got the wind knocked out of her, “I miss my old life so much. I miss the people. I miss the monotony. I miss the feeling of safety. I miss how things used to be.” 

A tear slid down her cheek. Her breaths were shallow. She was trying to keep herself from crying. 

“You’re not alone,” he said, trying to comfort her. 

“I know, but it felt like I was. Then I was just cleaning up disaster after disaster, and as much as I love being a part of the Minutemen, it’s exhausting. I thought- I hoped this could be a tiny break. A day back when things were different,” she sighed. 

His mind raced as he thought about how to comfort her. He figured she had a love for music from the odd comment every now and then. The few slip ups she had about the time before the war were usually music related. He remembered an old pre-war Christmas song. 

“At least it’s a white Christmas,” he joked. 

She laughed softly, “I guess I should have seen the snow coming. We are in New England afterall.” 

He felt the tension in his shoulders lessen as she laughed. He was glad he did not just make things worse. 

They were silent for a moment after her laughter, save for her sniffles. 

“You know I didn’t forget what tomorrow is. I did get you something. It… isn’t common for friends to give each other presents, but I know it used to be, he said cautiously. 

“I got you something too,” she said. Her expression completely changed to what he thought was excitement. She quickly crouched to her bag, “I wanted to give it to you tomorrow, but it’s something you need.” 

She produced a handsome, dark green, leather duster. The hem was a bit beaten up, but it was still in remarkable shape. 

“I saw it in Fallon’s. I hope it fits,” she rushed out. 

He looked between her and the duster a few times before he took off the ratty, khaki one he was wearing. He held the green one in hands for a moment. It was heavy, but not too much. He put it on. For a moment he wished he had a mirror, but he could feel that it fit perfectly. 

“Do you like it?” she asked earnestly. 

“Yeah. I’ve needed a new duster for a while,” he smiled at her. 

For a moment they simply stood there smiling at one another. Suddenly he found himself feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. 

He scratched the back of his neck, and turned from her, “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, but I found a necklace that reminded me of you.” 

He walked quickly to his bag and retrieved the necklace. It was tarnished, but still beautiful. It was silver and the charm was a small flower. He believed it was a rose. 

He handled it gingerly as he showed it to her. He watched as her face changed to surprise. 

“Where did you find this?” she asked. Her voice was almost impossibly soft. 

“I got it from a traveling caravan we passed by on the way to Diamond City this last time, why?” he asked. 

She picked it up gently, and cradled it in her hands. 

“It used to be mine,” she explained, “It was the last gift my father gave me before I moved here.” 

He did not respond. He was waiting to see if she was going to start crying again. Thankfully, she did not. 

She looked up at him with shining eyes, and a huge smile, “You have no idea what this means to me. Thank you.” She hugged him. 

It took him a moment to respond, as when she hugged him it felt like his stomach was flipped upside down. He hugged her back, and realized something. He loved her, and it scared the ever living hell out of him. He was scared to love again, to lose again, but he would be damned if he was not there for her. He was going to hold on tight for as long as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this a kind of Christmas chapter in August? yes.


	13. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia's first run in with the Brotherhood of Steel.

Claudia’s fingers played with the silver rose that hung from her neck. She could not believe that MacCready had managed to get his hands on it. He did not even know what it was when he grabbed it. She supposed, though, that it did not matter. She was just happy to have it back in her hands, or around her neck rather. 

The change from fiddle to voice on the radio shook her from her thoughts. Brought her back to reality. The reality of the edge of the display case biting into her rear. 

“And the General’s presence is being requested at the settlement of Sunshine Tidings co-op,” McNiall reported over the radio. 

“It’s a good thing that we can head out now,” she smiled down at MacCready, who was kneeling in front of her putting away his bedroll. They would have slept on the couches upstairs, but who knew what stained them. Knowing raiders, it could be literally anything. 

“What do you think this shi- it’s about?” he asked as he zipped up his bag. 

“I dunno. I have yet to even be called down to the Castle. When people want to send a message it’s usually through someone else. I hope nothing too bad is happening…” her voice trailed off. Her mind started to wander as to what could be going on. Part of her wondered if it had to do with the so-called Brotherhood of Steel. Seeing that airship filled her with dread. 

He stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder, “Whatever it is. I’m sure that we can deal with it.” 

***

Her face burned from the cold. She was sure she looked like a tomato, or tato rather, at this point. The clear air was nice, though. Even if it was freezing cold. 

They were barely halfway up the hill coming from the southeast when they heard the shouting. Her hands tightened on the grip of her pistol. As they came to they came to the crest of the hill they saw a few minutemen. One of them was arguing with someone in a full suit of power armor. 

“Brotherhood,” MacCready grumbled from behind her to her right, “this can’t be good.” 

She holstered her pistol, and walked up to them. She doubted she looked like the intimidating general people who did not know her thought she was. Her arms were crossed as tightly as possible over the leather armor she wore. She was shivering from head to toe. 

“What’s going on?” she asked. 

“Back off settler. This does not concern you,” the Brotherhood soldier barked. 

The minuteman glared at him before turning to Claudia, “Thank god you’re here, General. We could really use your help. This Brotherhood… member was harassing the settlers, and is refusing to back off.” 

“You’re the general?” the soldier scoffed. 

“Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that?” 

“Just surprised,” he responded. She could feel the venom in his words. 

She held back a glare. It was best to keep things professional. Especially with a man in a full suit of power armor. 

“What happened here?” she reiterated. 

“He was trying to bully the settlers into giving the Brotherhood their crops, and started threatening them when they refused,” the minuteman explained. 

She raised an accusatory eyebrow at him. 

“The Brotherhood needs provisions,” he huffed, “and they were refusing to help. The Brotherhood-” 

“You threatened them, and didn’t bother to offer to trade?” she demanded. 

“The Brotherhood needs-” 

She held up her hand to stop him, “I don’t really care what the Brotherhood needs. You threatened these settlers, because they refused to simply hand over their crops. I saw that airship fly in. I’m sure you can spare the caps. If you want to trade, then that’s their decision, not mine, but if you continue to harass them there will be consequences. I can promise that, so I suggest you leave. _Now.”_

“Yes, but we could use the support of the people,” he tried to argue. 

“Which you won’t get by threatening them into submission. Now leave.” she commanded. Her hands were now at her sides, ready to grab one of her weapons. 

“Fine, but just know this does not put you in the good graces of the Brotherhood,” he grumbled and walked away. It was then a group of Brotherhood members were waiting for him at the foot of the hill. 

Claudia sighed, “We should stay here until at least tomorrow. I don’t trust them. Tell the others.” 

“Yes Ma’am.” 

She scowled down the hill towards the soldiers. She wondered if it was just this group’s idea, or if it was a regular occurrence. She really hoped it was the former. 

“You want me to say I told you so now, or?” MacCready joked as he walked up to her. She glanced at him. Despite his tone she could see the anger on his face. 

“You can hold off on that for now, but this doesn’t bode well.” 

He blinked a few times, and turned to her, “What?” 

“What?” she gave him a confused look. 

His face got a bit redder. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “I uh, I don’t know what ‘bode well’ means.” 

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “It means this isn’t a sign of good things.” There had not been many instances of her using phrases he did not understand. She did not use much slang before the war, and she spoke plainly. She supposed it made sense that he did not understand everything, though. 

“That makes sense,” he said quietly. 

She frowned at the way he said it, “You know, it makes sense that you don’t know that. Language can change a lot pretty quickly, let alone over two hundred years. I’m sure people say stuff that I wouldn’t know.” 

“You shouldn’t have said that,” he smiled. 

She rolled her eyes at him, and stared towards the distance. She could not help but feel uneasy, though. There was something horrible on the horizon. She could feel it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone else bothered by the quest(s) Proctor Teagan gives you?
> 
> Also, here's an unofficial [chapter 13.5](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055541). Be careful, it's explicit.


	14. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Violence against robots

MacCready shivered lightly as he and Flynn trudged through the snowy wastes. He was thankful for the new duster. He was sure that if he had the old one he would have frozen to death. 

They had received a call over the radio to go down to The Castle. MacCready had decided to skirt around the Boston ruins. He did not want to deal with the raiders and mutants that they were sure to run into if they went along the river and harbor. Part of him regretted it, since they had to walk in a large loop to avoid the bad pockets. 

As they came over the crest of the hill MacCready spotted one of the old military checkpoints that littered the roads of the Commonwealth. An old Mister Gutsy roamed the area. Just as he was just about to start on a path to take them around it he saw a suit of power armor. 

He nudged Flynn with his elbow lightly, “There’s power armor down there. Probably some ammo too. We should go.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him, “You sure it’s not a trap? It’s out in the open.” 

“Yeah. There’s a Mister Gutsy. Jamaica Plain, University Point, and South Boston are nearby. Plus that junkyard I told you about. I doubt it’s a trap,” he explained. 

She nodded, but he doubted she knew what was wrong with the places he listed. He forgot about her time in the vault sometimes. He was going to have to sit down with her one of these days when they are not overly exhausted, and fill her in on everything he could. 

He dropped to a crouch half way between the crest and the checkpoint. Flynn dropped down next to him, not wanting to draw attention to them both. He brought his rifle up, and stared through the scope. He traced the rhythmic motions of the robot for a bit before firing two consecutive shots. He nailed it just right and it’s power cut out. 

“Damn….” Flynn swore quietly beside him. 

He smiled to himself. 

They made their way down, and found that the power armor was not only safe, but was also an almost perfect T-60 suit complete with a fusion core that still had some juice in it. Thankfully, there was not a fleck of paint on it either. 

“Well, Damn,” MacCready swore, “A decent T-60 that doesn’t belong to the Brotherhood? Don’t mind if we do.” 

“You think they’ll try to take it from us?” Flynn asked. She was completely serious. 

“Nah. If we keep it at The Castle or Sanctuary it should be fine.” 

She nodded, “You want to take the armor or…?” 

“You take it. You’ll be actually intimidating for once,” he teased. 

She rolled her eyes at him as she climbed into the suit. Normally she was several inches shorter than him, half a foot at the least, but in the power armor suit she almost towered over him. He wondered how she managed to operate the thing without modifications. 

They walked along the shore, with Flynn being closer to the water. Every now and then she would make a comment about how much she loved the ocean. That it was one of the perks of living in The Commonwealth. 

He did not understand why she loved it so much. It did not smell great, and it was full of mirelurks and who knew what else. He had stepped into a boat once or twice, and to say he lacked sea legs was an understatement. He would much rather stand on dry, solid ground where he knew what threats he was facing. 

The only good thing about it was the look of wonder that came on her face. That was something he was noticing. When they first met she did not emote much, and if she did was either subdued or angry. She was slowly letting other things through. He felt a little honored that she was slowly opening up to him. He knew as well as anyone else how hard that could be, especially since he had almost everything buried. 

As they approached The Castle they could hear the radio before they even got close to the entrance. 

“While we’re here I want to get one of those funny looking hats. Always wanted one of those…” he joked. 

He glanced at Flynn with a shit eating grin. He did not need to see her face to know what her expression was. 

As they stepped into the courtyard he slowed his pace. At this point they were partners, but she was absolutely in charge when it came to the Minutemen. Who she was as the General was part of who she was, but it was a different part than who he was used to. 

“Can you hold this?” she asked, handing him her pistol. 

He grabbed it with a look of confusion. He realized why when she took off her helmet. He mentally slapped himself. It made sense since no one would be able to know who she was for sure, even with MacCready by her side. 

“Thanks. Stay here,” She ordered. 

He nodded, and watched as she walked up to the man in charge of the radio. MacCready vaguely remembered his name. Lewis something or something Lewis. 

Lewis pointed somewhere, and Flynn nodded. She turned back around towards MacCready, and gestured at him to follow her with her head. He followed her over to a grouchy looking, older woman. 

“Excuse me, are you Ronnie Shaw?” Flynn asked her. 

“Who else would I be? Can’t mistake me for one of the pups running things around here.” 

MacCready narrowed his eyes at her, but kept his mouth shut. It had taken him a bit, but he knew better than to mouth off when it came to Minutemen business. Unless it was just Garvey of course. In that case he would actively try to bug him sometimes. 

“I’m General Flynn. I heard your message on the radio.” 

Shaw half scoffed, “I’ve been waiting to talk to you. I used to be with the Minutemen myself, back before Joe Becker got himself killed and the Idiots took over.” 

Flynn shot him a warning glance as though she could tell he was having a hard time holding back. To be fair she probably could. 

She smiled, “Well, I’m glad to meet you. We could use some more… experienced soldiers.” 

“You’re right about that. I feel like some of these you’ve got may still need their diapers changed. And you seem pretty young yourself.” 

MacCready could not help, but roll his eyes. He was glad neither woman saw it though. 

Flynn cleared her throat, “I’d still like to hear what you came to talk to me about.” 

“Heard you were trying to get the Minutemen back on their feet. Thought I’d come see the new general for myself. So, what’s your story? What makes you think anybody wants the Minutemen back?” 

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people. All of them have said that things got far worse when the Minutemen fell apart. That everything is so much better with us around. Even if people didn’t want us, it’s easy to see that we’re needed. I know things weren’t great, but we’re the good guys again,” Flynn explained. 

Shaw nodded, seemingly pleased with her answer, “I’ve heard some good things. Wouldn’t be here otherwise, and now that I’m here I can see you really need my help.” 

“The more help the merrier.” 

“Yeah. You’re not kiddin’, but I had something specific in mind. I’m probably the only person who still remembers this, but The Castle’s armory was located in the west bastion,” Shaw started walking past them to it, “All of our best equipment was stored there. Weapons, ammo, schematics, you name it.” 

Though he was not a fan of how she was talking to Flynn, the sound of all that equipment was music to his ears. He hoped there was something of actual value, and not just a pile of .38 bullets. 

“Looks like it’s in good shape. Door is still sealed, bastion’s still standing. All we need is a way in.” 

“I hope you have an idea,” Flynn said. 

“Of course I do. If you can’t go through, go around,” she responded, and led them to the part of The Castle that still stood proudly. She pushed open the doors to what was the general’s quarters. 

“I thought I told them to use this room for normal quarters,” Flynn sighed. 

Shaw stopped, and looked at her, “Why?” 

“I’m hardly ever here. This is an important place, but we’re rebuilding out of Sanctuary. It might be closer to the edge of the Commonwealth, but it’s easier to get to. Besides, we need as many guns as possible and I don’t really need a special room.” 

“There are several generals rolling in their graves. Anyway, there’s a tunnel that leads from here to the armory.” 

Flynn put her helmet back on, “At least they cleared the rubble…. MacCready, can I have my pistol back?” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” he handed it to her. He somehow forgot he was holding it for her. 

“Who is he, by the way?” 

“Uh, he’s… an unofficial part of the Minutemen? He basically does all of the work without the title.” 

She narrowed her eyes at them. 

“I’m a merc with a heart of gold,” he joked. 

“Things really are changing,” Shaw scoffed. 

They made their way down the stairs, and into the tunnels. The air was moist, but stale. It smelled like dirt, and something horrible. A green glow lit the walls. 

“There’s some landmines down here. Watch out,” Shaw warned. 

“We should clear this place later. It’d be a good place to go during radstorms,” Flynn said. 

They weaved through the maze-like tunnels. There was a turret, but it was a smoking pile of scrap in a matter of seconds. The next two rooms were relatively empty. At least there was nothing that interested him. 

As they stepped into the last room, his ears were met with the sound of a sentry bot booting up. 

“Sentry Bot designation SARGE powering up,” it said. 

“What the actual fuck is that?” Flynn exclaimed, throwing professionalism out of the window. 

MacCready whipped around to see it come out of its station. Then it’s gun started up. 

“Oh sssshhhhhh…” 

“GET BEHIND ME!” Flynn bellowed. 

MacCready and Shaw dove behind her without a second thought. Bullets sprayed across the room. They sent chunks of stone flying through the room as they hit the column. He winced as he heard them hit Flynn. He knew she would be fine, but it was hard not to. 

They poked their guns out to shoot the bot. The bullets were hardly doing anything. The musket was doing slightly better, but not by much. 

MacCready was starting to wonder if they could make a run for it when Flynn cursed. 

“I’m going to try something. You two need to get behind the wall, now,” she ordered. 

He did not need to be told twice. They backed up to behind the wall, and peered through the arch way. Flynn tossed her pistol aside. The bot charged at her, and she was pushed back an inch or two. She grabbed a hold of its arms just before it could smack her. They struggled for a moment, then the sound of creaking metal filled the room. 

She was somehow pushing its arms backwards. Its gun started up again, sending a rain of bullets into the wall opposite of them. The plating was starting to glow red. She bent the arms back further and further until the gun stopped. Then with a shower of sparks they were bent completely out of place. They were barely hanging on. 

Her hands flew back as though she was afraid of being burned. They would not be, but with the mixture of the sparks and red hot plating, it made sense. 

It started to get ready to charge at her again, but it stopped. It was overheated. 

“Grab its fusion cores,” MacCready told her. 

She moved surprisingly fast given the power armor. She was behind it in a second. She managed to rip out its fusion cores just as powered up again. 

They were quiet for a moment, scared of it coming back to life. 

“Too bad Sarge went haywire. He’s been guarding The Castle since… forever, far as I know,” Shaw said. 

MacCready looked at her like she was crazy. He looked over at Flynn who he guessed was wearing an exasperated look. 

They stepped around the old sentry bot, and headed to the other end of the room. There was a terminal sitting on a desk next to a security door. 

“Alright, let’s see. I used to know this password… ‘One if by land…’ no. ‘For the Commonwealth….’ Goldurnit, it’s been a long time… ‘United we stand…’ there we go.” 

She selected a few things on the terminal, and the door swung open. He was half-expecting there to be an assaultron waiting for them. Instead there was a desk, several bottles of wine, and a dead body. The skeleton chained up between the walls. He decided not to comment on it. 

Shaw stood next to the body, looking somber. 

“That explains all the landmines. This is, well… was, General McGann. He had your job when I first joined up. Must’ve gotten trapped down here when that sea beast attacked. He did manage to keep the armory secure. I’ll give him that much,” she sighed, “I guess the uniform is yours now. This old geezer doesn’t need it any more. Rest in peace, General. Your fight is done and the Minutemen live on.” 

He shifted from foot to foot uncomfortable. Things got awfully sobering faster than he was comfortable with. 

“Heh, no point in getting sentimental in something that happened over forty years ago. Come on, the armory is just through this door.” 

_I swear to fucking god. If there is another murder bot in there,_ MacCready thought. 

They climbed the stairs, and sure enough, they were inside the west bastion. Flynn hit the button on the wall, and the door to the courtyard swung open. They pushed open the double doors. 

MacCready could not lie, there was some good stuff in there. Laser turrets, laser guns, several different grenades, and workbenches. His eyes widened when they landed on the fat man. He whistled appreciatively. 

He turned around and saw Flynn put her pistol on the table in the center of the room. She took her helmet off, and her hair was stuck to her face. She shook her head to get it all out of her face. Her hair momentarily became a red halo. When it all landed, it framed her face beautifully. 

His mouth fell open a bit, but he closed it just as quickly. He blushed slightly. Since he realized that he might like her a little more than as a friend. He was slowly realizing how beautiful she was. 

“Now,” Shaw interrupted his train of thought, “I know those turrets, and the fat man looks great, but this,” she handed a large rolled up piece of paper to Flynn, “is why I wanted to get in here.” 

She took it with a skeptical look. She unfurled it and studied it for a moment. Her eyebrows raised. 

“Are these… schematics?” she asked. 

“Yes, yes they are. For artillery to be exact.” 

MacCready raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure that’s a good thing, but what’s that?” 

“Similar to a canon. They are essentially really powerful, really big guns,” Flynn explained. 

“Well damn.” 

“These things can take down anything.” 

“I have to admit,” Flynn said, “this is great. Would you mind if I put you in charge of building them here?” 

“I’d be honored. It’s good to see the Minutemen growing again. You could use some work, but I think we’re in good hands. Good to meet you, General.” 

Flynn smiled and handed the schematics back to her, and she left. 

“You don’t like her very much, do you?” she asked. 

“Of course not. Only authority I like is you and Hancock. But that artillery… You think it’s strong enough to, oh, I don’t know. Blow the Brotherhood out of the sky?” 

She frowned, “It might be, but I hope we don’t have to. We’ve got raiders and Gunners against us inherently, and we’re picking a fight with the Institute. We have other things to worry about.” 

He hated to admit, but she was right. They had bigger problems to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I started college. Motivation is a bitch
> 
> Also, here's an unofficial [chapter 13.5](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055541). Be careful, it's explicit.


	15. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia is reunited with someone she thought she had lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are very large chunks of dialogue, but I didn't know how else to do it

Claudia sighed as she stepped out of the power armor. As stiff as she would get wearing it for a prolonged period, the warmth was enough to not want to leave it. 

The trip to The Castle had been incredibly successful. It looked like it was doing well, they had found schematics for some artillery, and Ronnie Shaw… she was something else. Despite MacCready’s opinion, she quite liked her. Though, she did not blame him. He did not seem to care for most forms of authority. 

She stretched out her back and neck before turning to speak to MacCready. She could have sworn he had been looking at her, but his eyes were fixed on their shared house. She turned to look at it, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Did you see something?” she asked. 

“Huh? Oh, oh no. Just a um, a trick of the light,” he sputtered. 

She swore she saw him blush, though she was unsure if it was just the cold. She raised an eyebrow, confused. As she opened her mouth she was cut off by the sound of footsteps. A voice spoke before she turned around. 

“Dia?” 

She paused. She did not turn to see who it was. Too scared to be wrong. Despite the raspiness it was so familiar. 

“Dia, is it really you?” he asked. 

She looked at him slowly, already on the verge of tears. The necrotic face of a ghoul man met her eyes. Behind the age and dead tissue was a face she loved and knew very well. Her ghoulified brother was standing in front of her. 

With a broken sob she almost tackled him with a hug. “Andy,” she cried. 

He held her tightly without a word. She sobbed into his shoulder. She had accepted that her family was likely long gone, or at least she’d probably never see any of them. But now she was holding on to her little brother like if she let go he’d turn to dust. 

It felt like everything he had been burying for the past few months broke out of her. All that pain finally made its way out of her. He cried too, which just made her hold him tighter. After all she was still his big sister. 

They stood sobbing with a mix of emotions in each other's arms. She was unsure how long they stayed like that, but she did not really care. 

When they did finally pull away, she still held onto his arms. Afraid to let go. She had to tilt her head up to look him in the face. He had grown a bit since she had last seen him. He was now at least a foot taller than her. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her voice was almost as hoarse as his. 

“It’s a long story, but the shorter version is I caught word that the Minutemen had a new general. Last name of Flynn. I was curious to see if it was one of your descendents. But the more I heard, the more it sounded like you, but nothing said you were a ghoul, so I was confused. I had to see for myself who you really are.” 

“Well, it’s me,” she laughed weakly. 

“Yeah, I can see that,” he smiled, “and as relieved and happy I am to see you, how do you still look like you?” 

Her smile turned to a frown, “Cryostasis vault.” 

“Some world you woke up to.” 

She sighed, “No shit.” 

He laughed, “At least you didn’t have to live through the early days. Especially back in California.” 

“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through. Andy, I’m so sorry.” 

“Don’t be. None of it was your fault.” 

“Still, it must’ve been hell.” 

“It was, but we can talk about that more later. You have to introduce me to your… friend,” he smirked slightly. 

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. She was not fond of how he said that. As much as she loved him, he could get on her nerves pretty quickly. 

“Right,” she cleared her voice and turned to MacCready, “Andy, this is MacCready. MacCready, this is my little brother Andrew.” 

“Little?” he exclaimed, “I am at least a foot taller than you, and I’ve actually aged, unlike you!” 

“I’m still older than you. That’s never going to change.” 

He rolled his eyes, “Okay old woman.” 

“It’s only two years.” 

“Says the one who insists it matters.” 

She rolled her eyes, “Whatever. Anyway, this is my brother.” 

“Nice to meet you, MacCready,” he held out his hand. 

MacCready shook it, “Nice to meet you too.” 

“So, are you one of the Minutemen?” 

“Not exactly. He’s a mercenary I hired. I needed help getting around. Ended up becoming one of my closest friends and kinda part of the Minutemen,” she explained. She felt more comfortable telling Andy the truth, than she had with Ronnie. She trusted him not to judge either of them too harshly. 

“Not the worst thing in the world. A friend of hers is a friend of mine. Anyway, you two just got back from… somewhere, right? I’ll let you get settled.” 

“We should talk later.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said sarcastically, and walked off towards one of the other houses. Some things never change. 

She looked at MacCready. His face was unreadable. He scratched the back of his neck. 

“I, uh, didn’t know you had a brother,” he paused for a moment, “but I don’t blame you for not talking about him. I know how hard it can be to talk about family….” 

“I have a feeling we’re going to have to have a hard conversation,” she sighed, “but it’s good to have him back.” 

***

“Where are you going?” Claudia asked from the couch. MacCready was standing in the hallway with his rifle slung over his shoulder. 

“Target practice. I figured that this is probably going to get personal, for both of you, so i wanted to give you some space.” 

“Oh, well, thank you.” 

“‘Course,” he nodded, “Besides, even though I’m probably the best sniper in the Commonwealth, I could use practice.” 

She scoffed at him as he left. A few moments later there was a knock on the front door. Andrew was waiting for her when she opened it. 

“Come in.” 

He came in, and made a beeline for the couches where an old stove had been converted into a fireplace. It was a piece of her own handiwork that she had made in some downtime. 

“I saw MacCready leave. You two live together?” he asked. 

“Yeah?” she narrowed her eyes at him. 

“You sure you guys are just friends?” 

“Yes, Andrew, I’m sure. It’s not like we’re sharing the same bed every damn night.” 

She had a feeling that was why he was smirking earlier. Drawing conclusions that did not exist, as usual. She remembered every time she brought up a guy he would insist that she liked him. He was rarely right. 

“You’ve shared the same bed?” he asked. Save for a raised eyebrow, his face was completely straight. She could hear the humor in his voice though. 

“Andrew,” she glared at him. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” 

She sat in the armchair to the right of the couch. Despite the familiarity an awkwardness hung in the air. She did not know where to start. 

“So… cryostasis, huh? How long have you been out of the vault?” 

“A little over two months.” 

“Not many stories to tell then. Two hundred ten years… where do I start?” he sighed. 

“We don’t have to talk about this.” 

He shook his head, “No, I want to. It’s just hard,” he was quiet for a moment, “When the bombs dropped we didn’t have a vault to go to, but the nearest bomb dropped in the bay, so radiation wasn’t too bad for us. But those first years were, hard is an understatement. Mom died five years later due to some asshole thieves. Dad died eight years after her trying to save some people from a pack of feral dogs. I started turning into a ghoul at that point. Radiation was making its way inland.” 

“Stayed in California for the few friends that were still alive. Stayed a while longer after they died. Then all of the shit with the Master and the mutants happened. That bastard is the reason for the mutants in the west. A lot of other stuff happened, but now isn’t the time for a history lesson….” 

“You want something to drink?” 

“Yeah, thanks.” 

He continued as she got drinks, “After that mess I decided to head East. I wanted to know what happened to you and Grandma. You wouldn’t happen to know what happened, would you?” 

“No,” she sighed, “She was doing some shopping when it happened. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be. I made peace with her death a long time ago.” 

She handed him a can of purified water. 

“Anyway, it took me about a year and a half to get to Boston. Saw a lot of stuff. I spent a lot of time here looking for you, trying to figure out what happened to you. I never found any bones or anything, so I hoped you had made it into a vault. I would’ve investigated them, but I’ve never had a Pip-Boy, so I couldn’t get in if I wanted to. Probably for the best. At best they’re control vaults, at worst they produce super mutants.” 

He took a sip of his water, “Couldn’t handle being here, so I headed south to the Capital Wasteland. Ended up leaving and bouncing around areas between here and there eventually. Mostly due to the Brotherhood and the Enclave.” 

“Enclave?” 

“I’m not honestly too sure. All I can say is overly corrupt remnants of the government. They’re gone now.” 

“Anyway, last place I was at was an inn of sorts. I was working as their handyman. Then I got word of a new general of the Minutemen. General Flynn. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know if she was one of your descendants. If you made it into a vault. Never expected it to actually be you,” his voice broke with a sob. 

She got up from her chair, and sat next to him. She pulled him into a hug, fighting back her own tears. She let himself cry into her shoulder. She could not imagine what he had been through. Two months had been tough, but two hundred years… she tried not to think about it. Right now all that mattered was that they were both alive, and even after two hundred years she was still the big sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andrew knows things....


	16. MacCready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What seems like a normal day takes a turn for the worse, then a turn for the better. MacCready finally stops calling Claudia 'boss' to her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Pickman Gallery quest is in this chapter, so if gore is not your thing be warned.

MacCready paused as he opened his bedroom door. He heard a low, smooth, feminine voice singing along with Nat King Cole’s. It was separate from the radio, and he had the song enough times to know it was not a duet. 

Part of him wondered if he was still dreaming. The only singer he knew who was this good was Magnolia, but it did not sound like her. There would be no reason for her to be there anyway. 

He wandered into the main room where Flynn was sitting on the couch, cleaning her shotgun, and singing to herself. He stood there for a moment just listening and watching her. She never looked this peaceful when she was not asleep, and even then he could tell she was plagued by bad dreams. 

It did not surprise him that she was a good singer, he had heard the control she had over her voice when she spoke. He just wondered why he had never heard her sing. 

She sighed and shook her head as “Uranium Fever” replaced “Orange Colored Sky.” She had never seemed fond over that song. 

“Mornin’,” he said. 

She looked up from her work, “Hey. I didn’t wake you up, did I?” 

He was taken aback slightly. She was acting like he had not seen a completely different side of her. 

“Nah, you’re good. I, uh, I didn’t know you could sing.” 

She looked away from him to somewhere straight ahead of her. She straightened a bit, and frowned with furrowed brows. She looked like she was lost in thought. 

“I guess it’s been awhile since I felt like it…” her voice trailed off. 

It was his turn to frown. He had no idea what she was talking about, or what was going through her head. Part of him wondered if he had somehow said something wrong. If he was not supposed to hear her. 

She shook her head, “Uh, anyway, Sturges came up with a list of stuff he needs for upgrades, and repairs. Nothing has come in over the radios, so while we could scavenge, we could also just find a vendor.” 

He nodded, “Best bets will probably be the major settlements. Diamond City, Goodneighbor, and Bunker Hill. Course it’s up to you where we go.” 

“They made a settlement around Bunker Hill? Actually that makes sense. Almost every major pre-war place is.” 

“It’s less of a settlement, and more of a caravan hub. A few people live there of course, and they’ve got a bar and inn, but mostly it’s just a place for traveling merchants to sell their stuff directly to you, unlike Diamond City and they’re hell of a lot more accepting of ghouls far as I know,” he explained. 

“Let’s head to Diamond City first. It’s easier to get there, and the less fights we get in the better.” 

“Sounds good to me. Just let me eat something first.” 

“Of course. We’ve got brahmin jerky and bread in one of the cabinets. You could run over to that root cellar if you want something else.” 

“Yeah, I’ll probably go get some butter. Don’t feel like having dry bread,” he said walking to the front door, “I’ll be back.” 

He grabbed his duster off of the coat rack they had recently acquired, and pulled it on. He stepped into the cold winter air. A layer of snow covered everything. It snowed in the Capital Wasteland, but it was a lot worse in the Commonwealth. It had certainly helped that he spent most of those winters in a cave surrounded by other people. 

He walked to the back of the house Garvey and Sturges had claimed. There was a root cellar there. From what he had heard, the person who had lived there before the war had made it in an attempt to survive the bombs. No one knew what had become of them, but it’s use was clear. Shortly after arriving, they had changed it to a place to store perishables. 

He wondered if they would dig more root cellars as Sanctuary’s population grew. It made sense to have one communal one at its current size, especially since he, Flynn, and Garvey were not guaranteed to be there, but it would not last forever. 

He threw open the doors, and climbed down the ladder inside. As he hopped off he noticed Flynn’s brother, Andrew. 

He turned to look at MacCready as his feet hit the ground. He felt uncomfortable as Andrew regarded him, like he was looking right through him. 

“Hey, you’re MacCready, right? We didn’t really get to have a proper introduction yesterday,” Andrew said. 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to intrude on you two,” he stammered. He cursed himself mentally. He did not understand why he was so nervous. Normally he did not care what someone thought about him. 

“Thanks for that, by the way. We had a lot to catch up on, or she had a lot to catch up on.” 

“Of course. Figured there would be a lot to talk about.” 

Andrew nodded, “Thanks for watching out for her. I know it’s your job to watch her physically, but I don’t think it’s your job to keep her sane. She’s tough, but she needs someone to watch out for her.” 

MacCready scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “Just trying to be a good friend.” 

Andrew grabbed a carrot that sat on one of the shelves, “Well, it was nice to meet you.” 

“Yeah.” 

Once Andrew was up and out of the cellar, MacCready let out a loud exhale. It was good to know that he seemed to like him, but he was a bit irked that he cared so much about his opinion of him. 

He shook his head, and grabbed the butter he came for. 

***

MacCready heard Flynn let out a sigh of relief as he slammed the door to Goodneighbor behind them. Super Mutants had made their home around the corner again. 

They had managed to pick up a few things from Diamond City, but nowhere near all the things on the list. 

“Damn mutants…” he muttered. 

“Where the hell do they all keep coming from?” she asked. 

He had no idea. He doubted they just came up from the Capital Wasteland. Especially since that one lady he had let into Little Lamplight had seemingly cleaned up Vault 87. 

“Mutants move back in?” rasped a familiar voice. 

MacCready turned to see Hancock leaning against the low stone wall that separated the entrance form the shops and the rest of Goodneighbor. 

“Hancock! How’s the coolest ghoul in the Commonwealth?” MacCready explained. 

“Doin’ alright, MacCready. General,” he nodded at Flynn. 

“Mayor Hancock,” she nodded back. 

“You know, you two came by at just the right time. That is, if you don’t mind helping our little community.” 

“What needs to be done?” she asked. 

“I have reconnaissance needs. There’s a lot of weird talk coming in about a place called the Pickman Gallery. It’s raider territory up there, but they’ve been quiet. Like, uncomfortable post-coitus quiet?” 

“It’s near here, right?” 

“Yeah, it’s near where the river turns into the harbor.” 

Her brows furrowed slightly, “As far as I know it isn’t Minutemen doing. Far as I know, other than Goodneighbor, there aren’t any settlements close enough to warrant a clear out, and I feel like I would know if you called on us.” 

“That’s what I figured. I need you to snoop it out, and give me the word. If somethin’s wiping out raiders like that it’s either really good or really bad.” 

“We’ll take care of it, don’t worry.” 

“Cool. Be thorough, okay? I’m not paying for a look-see. Find out what’s really going on,” He gave them a final nod, and turned to walk towards the Old State House. 

“Damn shame he’s not paying us to take out the super mutants too,” MacCready joked. 

“No kidding” she sighed as he opened the door. 

***

“Wonder what’s going on here for them to be so angry,” Flynn said as she searched a raider they had taken down. 

“We’re about to find out. Whatever it is must be pretty bad. This isn’t normal raider behavior,” he replied. The raiders had of course shot them on sight, but there had been a slight hesitation Instead of making a break for it or making sure they died, they had been centered around the door yelling at whoever Pickman was. 

“Yeah, but they do seem pretty pissed. They’re probably pretty hopped up on adrenaline along with chems, so let’s try stealth.” 

“Sounds good to me.” 

He took a step away from the door, so he could follow her in. It was easier for him to aim over her shoulder than it was for her to aim over his. They dropped to a crouch. She grabbed the door handle, and slowly pushed the door open. 

The first thing that he noticed was the smell. It smelled like death, and that was no exaggeration. The stench was so bad he was forced to breathe through his mouth. He could taste the air, and tried not to gag. 

She turned to look at him, a look of disgust clear on her face. She took a deep breath, which she seemed to immediately regret, and pushed forwards into the house. 

They entered a long hallway with stairs on the right hand side. A group of raiders stood at the end of the hall. 

“You think we’re going to catch that Pickman psycho?” one asked. 

“The slippery bastard got away before,” another answered, “But Slab won’t leave a man breathing after he’s hunted our crew.” 

“I heard Pickman skinned Roy alive after he snatched him, let the rats get at him. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it.” 

They had figured Pickman had been killing them, but if the raiders’ rumors were right, that would explain why they were so angry. 

Flynn reached behind her, and tapped his knee. He looked down at her hand to see her motioning to the doors to their right. He followed her as they sneaked into the room. He wondered how the doors opened so quietly. 

That thought died as soon as it had appeared. The room was filled with gore, but it was organized gore. A pile of flesh and furniture sat in the middle of the room. Heads on stakes poked out of the mess. Terrifying paintings hung on the walls. The shades of red were too close to the color of blood for his liking. If these were all raiders he did not blame them for acting out. 

“Thanks for the nightmare fuel,” he managed to whisper. 

Despite everything his body was screaming at him, he followed Flynn into the room. They circled around the mess in the center to find a clothed and intact body. She felt through his pockets, and pulled out a note. She scanned it, folded it, and pocketed it. 

She looked up at him, or at least it looked like she was looking at him. It looked more like she was looking through him. He could see how much the place was messing with her. He had seen some deeply depraved stuff, but even this was out of his league. 

“Boss,” he whispered, touching her left arm gently, “let’s let the raiders sort this out.” 

She gave no response. 

“Boss,” he nudged her this time, “let’s get out of here.” 

He felt a pang of relief when she gave a small nod. He was starting to worry she had gone into shock. 

He led the way out. Once they were out of the building, and he had closed the doors, she made a beeline to the river. She threw up once she got there. He winced, but did not blame her. He had no idea how he was not joining her. 

She stood shaking at the water for a few moments. He wanted to make her feel a bit better, but he had no idea what to say. He had a good feeling the raiders were going to take care of the bastard, but he doubted death was not going to be a comforting idea. 

“You doing alright?” was all he could think to say. 

She coughed, “Yeah, yeah, I will be. I mean I never saw any of the crime scenes, but serial killers like this existed before the war. Sadly, shit like this isn’t new. Let’s just get out of here.” 

“No arguments here, Boss.” 

They weaved their way through the buildings back to Goodneighbor. Neither said a word. Neither was in the mood for banter. He was just thankful nothing got in their way. 

As she opened the door to Goodneighbor for the second time that day, she said, “I’ll go talk to Hancock. Why don’t you get us a place for tonight? I’ll pay you back later.” 

He watched her walk up to the door of the Old State House. Despite what they just dealt with she walked confidently to the door. She was so different from the girl he had met in the Third Rail over two months prior. He felt a little proud of her in all honesty. 

He headed over the Hotel Rexford. He paid extra attention to the world around him in an effort to push the hell hole out of his head. The only thing he noticed was a man in sunglasses who was acting like he was not staring at him. MacCready frowned, but that was not anything out of the ordinary. Chems could do weird things to a person. 

He rented a room for the two of them, and waited in the dusty lobby. He pulled out one of the issues of _Grognack the Barbarian_ he had read the most, so he could keep himself occupied but still pay attention. Goodneighbor be safer than roaming the wastes, but it still was nothing compared to Diamond City or even Sanctuary. 

Teaching himself to read was one of the best ideas he had ever had. He struggled a bit, but it was more than others could do. 

He got through a few pages before Flynn showed up. She had taken a bit longer than he had anticipated, but he just assumed she had gotten the shopping done. 

He waved her over to him, and led her to the room. It was the one they had stayed in after the ordeal with Kellogg. He hoped she did not notice. 

She dropped her bag on the left bed, and dug around until she pulled out a leather bag. 

“Here,” she tossed the bag to him, “your cut plus the room fee.” 

“Thanks,” he ran his thumb over the bag, “You wanna-” 

“Talk about it?” she cut him off while she took her armor off, “No. I’d rather talk about literally anything else.” 

“What about the rest of your conversation with Hancock? You were gone longer than I thought it would be?” he took off his own armor. 

“What? Did you miss me, Mac?” she teased. 

“No, and don’t call me that. I was just curious,” he replied. He sat on the edge of the bed. He grabbed his rifle cleaning kit, and laid his gun across his lap. 

“When are you going to stop calling me ‘boss’? I feel like it’s safe to say that we’re friends at this point.” 

“Yeah.” 

“So stop calling me boss.” 

He looked up at her. She was smiling at him, her eyebrows raised a bit. He could see a bit of pain in her eyes, but it was genuine. 

He sighed in defeat, “Fine. Flynn.” 

She rolled her eyes, but she was not annoyed, “Not what I meant, but it’s a step in the right direction. What am I going to call you now?” 

“Uh, MacCready?” 

“I called you Mac not just because it annoyed you, but because it was shorter. MacCready is too long.” 

“Too long?” 

“Mhm.” 

She was not wrong. There had been a few times when shouting his actual name would have wasted precious seconds. 

“Fine. You can call me R.J.” he said. It had been a long time since someone had called him that, but if he was going to let anyone call him that it would be her. 

“R.J.?” 

He looked up at her again. This time she looked confused. Then it hit him. He had never told her his full name. It made sense there were several people who only had one name. 

“Stands for Robert Joseph. My, uh, full name is Robert Joseph MacCready.” 

She nodded thoughtfully, “Nice to know you don’t have a weird name.” 

“Thanks for not thinking it’s weird.” 

She made a “tch” noise, and her smile deepened. He turned his head back to his rifle to keep from staring at her. There was something great about her when she smiled. 

They went about their nightly routines in a comfortable silence. It was hard to tell they had witnessed something horrible. MacCready was a bit proud of himself for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? Ruby wrote something other than a main or Minuteman quest?


	17. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia starts to realize her feelings for MacCready might be more than friendly. after they stumble upon a recording studio, she reveals her past to him.

Claudia laid on her back on her bed, her legs hanging off of the edge. Her feet barely touched the floor. MacCready sat on the edge of his bed lacing up his boots. His duster and scarf laid on the bed next to him. 

“You never did tell me what you and Hancock were talking about,” he said. 

“Hmm? Oh, he was just offering his support for the Minutemen was all. Said he was happy to see support for ghouls for once,” she explained. 

“Fair enough. Where we headed today? Sanctuary or Bunker Hill?” 

She sat up, “Do you have enough space in your pack for more stuff? I’ve got a little bit.” 

“I’ve got some space.” 

“Bunker Hill then. Let’s try and get as much done as possible.” 

“Sounds good to me,” he said standing up. He wrapped his scarf around his neck before pulling on his duster. Turns out getting him that newer duster was a good idea. It seemed to be warmer than the old one, and it fit him slightly better. The fact that it looked better on him was certainly a plus. Sure the layers underneath obscured part of his shape, but it hugged him tightly. 

She shook her head. _Dammit Andrew_ , she thought. Ever since they had been reunited he had been teasing her about MacCready. She had a knack for being oblivious to her own feelings until someone pointed them out, and her brother had done just that. It made sense that she liked MacCready. He was her type without a doubt, but she didn’t want to mess up one of the few friendships she had. 

He slung his pack over his shoulder, and grabbed his rifle, “Ready when you are.” 

She gathered her stuff, and they left. She tossed the room key to Clair as they passed the front desk. She made the mistake of taking a deep breath as they left the hotel. Goodneighbor reeked. MacCready laughed at the face she made. 

She followed him as he led the way to Bunker Hill, pistol drawn. They could hear gunshots in the distance, but it was not close enough to scare them. If anything the immediate area was eerily quiet. 

Despite the day before’s events they were in high spirits. They spoke quietly in case there were raiders or super mutants in the area. A few laughs were shared as they wove through the broken buildings. 

That was before he stuck his arm out, causing them both to stop walking. She opened her mouth to ask what was happening, but he quickly shushed her, and pointed ahead of them. She felt her heart stop for a moment. A yao guai was a few yards ahead of them. 

MacCready leaned close to her and whispered, “There’s a door to the left of you that we could get in without much hassle. Be a lot easier to get in there than escape.” 

She nodded, and they slowly started to shuffle towards the door. Thankfully, he was right. The door swung open with little effort, but it did let out a loud creaking noise. The noise caught the mutated bear’s attention, and it roared. MacCready pushed her inside, slamming the door behind them before anything bad happened. 

They stepped away from the door in case it burst open. When nothing happened she released the tension in her shoulders. It had not been the closest call they had ever had, but it was still too much for comfort. She took in her surroundings as she calmed down. 

“It’s a good thing this place was here… whatever the hell this place is. We should look for another exit,” MacCready said, but she ignored him. There was something familiar about the place, but she couldn’t remember why. 

They were in some kind of lobby. She swore that she had been there before. She studied the half moon shaped desk and the artwork behind it. Displays of various records decorated the walls. Hallways extended on either side of the desk. 

Then it hit her. She had been here before. Time, radiation, and whatever else did damage to the buildings had done a number on the place. She hadn’t been able to recognize one of the last places she had been to before the bombs had fallen. 

_I… I wonder if it’s still here_ she thought. 

She looked at MacCready, “Maybe… maybe we should try scavenging before we leave.” 

“Sure. If that’s what you want to do,” he shrugged. 

With a nod she led them down the right hand hallway. For once she knew exactly where she was going. 

“Let’s start with the room at the end,” she suggested. 

“Okay, bo… Flynn.” 

A smile briefly flitted across her face at the sound of him saying her name. The closer she got to the door the more nervous she got. By the time they got to the door her hand was shaking. She prayed that he did not see her hand as she reached for the handle. 

She stepped into the control room of a recording studio. Her body went on auto pilot as she crossed the threshold. She recalled where the producers kept the recordings. 

“What the hell does all of this stuff do?” MacCready asked as he followed her. 

She did not answer despite actually being able to for once. She stepped over to a rack that held hundreds of holotapes. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read their backs. She was thankful they were organized by artists, and that was done alphabetically. 

When she found the one she was looking for she picked it up gently, as if it were made of the most delicate material in the world. She searched the console for a place to insert the holotape. She then found the button to let it play. 

At first the sound of nothing but an acoustic guitar filled the room, but then a low smooth voice started to play. 

MacCready’s eyebrows furrowed, “Is... is that you?” 

“Yeah, it is.” 

“You were a musician before the war?” he asked hesitantly. 

“An aspiring one,” she sighed, “I was actually a waitress. I was really lucky that I didn’t _have_ to pay bills or anything, because I lived with my grandmother. I still insisted on helping, so I took a job as a waitress.” 

“Your brother wasn’t helping?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“He wasn’t living with us. He was still living with our parents where we grew up. Three thousand miles away….” her voice drifted off. She was sad, but for once she did not feel like she was going to cry. She guessed the talk with Andrew had helped. 

“Wait… when you said you were new to the area, you didn’t just mean the wasteland. Where are you from?” 

“A place in California. Doubt the place exists anymore. If it does, it’s not the same,” she laughed sadly, “I guess I was a lot luckier than I realized. I mean, I didn’t know it at the time, but at least I got to say some sort of goodbye to my parents.” 

MacCready shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, “I can’t imagine what’s been going through your head. It can’t be easy.” 

She shook her head, “It isn’t, but I’ve found a way to make it easier. I know I tend to keep things bottled up, but I’ve realized that talking about things make it easier.” 

“Well, you can always talk to me. It’s the least I could do,” he gave her a soft smile. She had to turn away. It was one of those moments he made her feel all warm inside. 

“Thanks, but I think that’s enough sappiness for now,” she looked at the racks of holotapes, “You think that Diamond City Radio DJ will take any of these? I’m tired of listening to the same things on repeat.” 

“Dunno, but it’s worth a try. Especially yours, if you want. It’s good.” 

She scoffed, “I thought I said no more sappiness.” 

“When have I ever followed _all_ of your orders?” he joked. 

“Whatever,” she laughed. She had to look away again. 

In the background the song continued to play. She heard her own voice sing, “And no matter where I go I am home as long as I’m with you.” The lyrics never felt truer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to post this. College is a pain in the ass.


	18. MacCready

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short, and there's discussion of Pickman's Gallery.

MacCready stared up at the night sky. It was one of those nights where there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He had heard from the pre-war ghouls that being able to see the sky like this used to be rare. There had been so much light on the ground that you could not see the stars. He wondered how much light it took to change the sky. 

He looked behind him where Flynn was sleeping next to the fireplace in the cabin they were staying in. He wondered how often she saw the sky like this before the war, if ever. 

He smiled softly at her as she slept. It was rare that she looked that peaceful. She had been through a lot, he would know better than almost anyone else. If anyone deserved a moment of peace it was her. 

Just as he stated to turn back to the wasteland he heard her mumbling in her sleep. He remained still to try to listen. It felt a bit weird, but he wanted to make sure she was not having a nightmare. 

The moment she started mumbling the word “no” he started getting up. She started tossing and turning as he walked to her. By the time he got to her side she sat bolt upright, breathing hard. Her face and neck were covered in a thin layer of sweat. She brought her knees up to her chest. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

“It’s just a nightmare.” 

“You want to talk about it?” 

She picked at her pants absentmindedly. She sighed, “It was that… raider hunter? His place. You weren’t kidding when you called it nightmare fuel. It was the most fucked up thing I’ve ever seen. I… I don’t think I would’ve agreed to go check it out had I even had the slightest idea what was happening.” 

He stayed quiet, unsure of what to say. He agreed with her. He had never seen something like that either, and he had worked with the Gunners. 

“And I started thinking,” she continued, “are we any better? A major part of what we do is kill raiders… other people. We go into their hideouts and kill them all.” 

He bit his tongue to keep from just saying the first thing that popped into his head. She was not judging him. She never did. She was struggling. He remembered several pre-war ghouls telling him that problems were not automatically solved with guns. At least that was how it was outside of war. 

“We are not the same as that ass… monster. We don’t torture anyone. We don’t hunt people. We don’t go out of our way to hurt people,” he placed his hand on top hers, “Flynn, we are not like him. We only fight raiders when we are protecting people, or they start firing at us. You think Garvey is like him?” 

“No.” 

“Then we aren’t either,” he said, his voice was softer than it had been in awhile, “You should get some more sleep. I’ve got a few more hours on watch.” 

He withdrew his hand to push himself up, but she caught it, “R.J?” 

He felt his heart in his throat, “Uh, yeah?” 

“Thank you.” 

“‘Course. Now get some sleep.” 

She nodded, letting go of his hand. He stood and walked back to the door where he was keeping watch. He glanced behind him, and she was laying down again. He hoped this time sleep was more peaceful for her this time around.


	19. Claudia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit after delivering the supplies to Sturges so he can start working working on the power armor, Claudia is told that Maxson wants to meet with her. Fearing it might be about the power armor, she agrees and takes Preston with her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Claudia woke with a start.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

It was someone knocking on the front door of the house.

She groaned into her pillow before getting out of bed. She pulled on her jacket. It wasn’t quite warm enough, but it would have to do. It was a good thing she didn’t sleep in just her underwear.

When she opened her bedroom door she saw that MacCready was already at the end of the hallway.

Her voice was still raspy from sleep, “You know who it is?”

“No, but we’re about to find out,” he replied grumpily as he opened the door. On the other side was a very frazzled looking Gabriel.

“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked. 

“Brotherhood. They want to talk to you.” 

“The hell do they want this early in the morning?” 

“Dunno. They wouldn’t say.” 

She pinched the bridge of her nose, “Let me get properly dressed, and I’ll deal with it.” 

Gabriel nodded, and took off down the street again. She shared a look with MacCready who could only shrug in response as he shut the door. She grumbled incoherently as she walked back to her bedroom to get dressed properly. Her hands fumbled from the cold as she struggled to get her clothes off and on. 

_What the hell could they want?_ was all she could think. She tried to put her anger aside for the moment, and put on a calmer face. After all, she did not know what they wanted. Diplomacy was needed. 

She saw someone standing in a painted suit of power armor at the edge of the main bridge that spanned the river that surrounded Sanctuary. Preston was leaning back against the sign that was just behind the guard posts. He did not look pleased. She had yet to really see him angry, and this was the closest she had seen. It was not pleasant. She could not see their faces, but she could tell from the way that they held their bodies that the brothers were antsy. 

“Stay back with Preston,” she ordered MacCready quietly. 

He nodded, and split from her side to stand with him. 

She approached the soldier. She stood between the two guard posts, allowing the roof to block the few rays of sunlight. 

“What do you want?” she asked more grumpily than she intended. She knew her response should have been nicer, but it was hard because of how early in the morning it was. The sun had just started to peak over the horizon. 

The Brotherhood soldier regarded her, “Are you the general of the Minutemen?” 

“Yes.” 

“I’m here to deliver a message,” the Brotherhood soldier replied, “Elder Maxson would like to speak with you.” 

Claudia raised an eyebrow at her, “Elder Maxson?” 

“Yes. He’s in charge of this chapter.” 

She nodded as a pit in her stomach started to grow. She wondered what he could possibly want. 

“Do you know what he wants to talk about?” 

“No. I just came to deliver the message. You have twenty-four hours to prepare anything you would like to speak on. A vertibird will be here tomorrow morning to pick you up,” she explained. 

She did not like that they were probably going to meet on that airship. While part of her would love to see it up close, it was not neutral territory. 

“Am I allowed to bring anyone with me?” 

“If you have any high ranking officials of your group you’d like to bring along you can.” 

“Is that all?” 

“Do you have any more questions?” 

“No.” 

“Then that is all. The vertibird will land just outside of the settlement tomorrow morning,” after she finished, the soldier turned and walked back over the bridge towards the Red Rocket and Concord. 

Claudia shook her head, before turning to address Preston, “I’m going to get something to eat, then we have to talk about this. You should eat something too.” 

Her mind raced as she headed back to her house to eat. She had no clue as to what their leader could want to talk to her about. Was it the power armor? If it was she was going to have to figure out how to convince them to let her keep the suits without giving too much about her plans away. 

She was completely lost in thought as she buttered her bread. She felt like she jumped out of her skin when MacCready cleared his throat. 

”Why do I have a feeling I’m not going with you?” he asked. 

“Because you’re not,” she said, trying to sound as nice as possible. 

“Why? I know them better than anyone else here.” 

“Yeah, but you don’t know their leader personally. This is something that requires tact and diplomacy, and no offense, but those are things you aren’t exactly good at. You’ve done an amazing job of watching my back, but I need Preston’s help here. It’s his job to help me with things like this.” 

He sighed, “At least let me help you plan.” 

“Alright,” she nodded, “that you can definitely help with.” 

He nodded, and a silence fell between them. It was stifling and awkward. Normally silence between them was comfortable and a part of life, but something about this had her wanting to crawl out of her skin. 

“I’m, um, gonna go grab another scarf,” he said. 

“Yeah, yeah. That’s uh, a good idea.” 

He nodded, and headed down the hallway. She groaned inwardly. That was another thing that would clog her mind. She had no idea where that had come from. 

When she and MacCready had finished eating they headed over to the Minuteman building. She really needed to come up with a better name. Name it after someone perhaps. 

Preston was already waiting for her inside, pacing behind the table that sat in the middle of the room. His hands were clasped behind his back. He stopped when he heard her step inside. 

“So,” he said, “what do you think they want?” 

Claudia looked at MacCready, “You have any ideas? You did say you know them best.” 

He shifted a bit, looking slightly uncomfortable. He had been to meetings before, but never been in this kind of position. He cleared his throat, “Uh, my best guess is the power armor, or the artillery. They also might be pissed at you for keeping them from bullying the settlers into giving up their crops.” 

She nodded, “If it is the crops, which I doubt, but if it is that should be easy enough to deal with, right? Just find a way to bargain with them?” 

“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s what this is about. I… think MacCready’s right. This is probably about the power armor or the artillery… or we’ve gotten big enough that they feel threatened by us.” 

“You think they’re going to try to get us to submit to them or something?” 

Preston shook his head, “Your guess is as good as mine, but I wouldn’t be surprised.” 

Claudia looked at MacCready, “What do you think?” 

“It’s a good guess, but they won’t start like that. They’ll try to size you up first, see how willing you are to cooperate and if you can be an ally.” 

“Great… and how do I deal with that?” 

“That I can help you with,” Preston assured her. 

“Alright, but we can’t spend the whole day theorizing about what they want. We have an opportunity to get something, or at least answers, what do we do?” 

“Well I’d like to know why exactly they’re here, but I have a feeling they’ll tell us.” 

MacCready snorted, “Oh they definitely will. Pompous as… jerks.” 

“Well other than that, and getting them to leave, I can’t think of anything.” 

She knew he said that to try to get her to lighten up, but she continued to frown at the table. She did not like how uneasy it made her feel. 

She looked at Preston, “I hate not knowing what they want, but there is one thing I can say with certainty. I have a feeling that we cannot tell them what we know about the Institute. At least nothing more than that they exist.” 

***

Claudia stood shivering next to Preston on the bridge. She wondered why they wanted to do this so early in the morning. Surely the leader would be asleep at this hour. 

Sure enough they saw the vertibird in the distance. It landed on the little hill in front of the Red Rocket. A soldier hopped out, and met them halfway. 

“General?” he asked, regarding Preston. 

“That would be me,” Claudia corrected. 

The soldier acted as though he did not make the mistake, “Are you ready to go?” 

“Yes.” 

“Alright then, follow me.” 

Claudia shared a look with Preston before following the soldier. She eyed the vertibird warily. She had flown in a plane, but not one of those. It did not help that it was likely over two hundred years old. She climbed in regardless. 

With nothing to really hold onto, she shoved her hands in her pockets so no one could see her clinging onto the fabric. She really wished she had something better to hold. Something actually connected to the vertibird. 

The vertibird shook a little as it took off causing her heart to hammer in her chest, but sure enough they were soon flying through the air. Even though she was not fond of the Brotherhood, she could not deny the view from the vertibird was amazing. She could see the conflict of emotions on Preston’s face too. 

There was a mix of delight from being up in the aircraft, but there was also worry of what was to come. She could see that he was trying to focus on what was happening in the moment. The feel of the wind whipping around them. 

She turned her attention back to the ground. Despite the fact that she was looking at a wasteland it was still a hell of a view. She remembered looking out the window when she flew there the summer before the bombs dropped. She wondered what the old world would’ve looked like at this angle as they flew over the river. It certainly would’ve been safer to fly like this back then. 

A sense of dread started to fill her as they got closer and closer to the airship. The thing was impressive, a true feat of engineering. While she doubted anything horrible would happen during the meeting, it was a reminder that the Brotherhood was a force to be reckoned with. 

The docking was harder than the landing. The vertibird shook violently, and distance between them and the ground didn’t help. They had to hop over a small gap to get to the catwalk that would lead them inside. Preston being closer got out first. He offered a hand to Claudia to help her out, which she gladly took. 

She did not dare look over the railing as she hopped off. It was far colder up in the air, causing her to shiver a little more violently. The wind was stronger up there too, causing her face to burn and go bright red. Her eyes watered slightly. 

A man in what looked like a captain’s hat walked up to them, “Are you the general of the Minutemen?” 

“Yes,” Claudia said. 

He looked at her with a look of almost distaste, “I’ll be honest you are not what I was expecting, but welcome aboard the Prydwen, General…?” 

“Flynn, and this is Major Garvey.” 

“General Flynn and Major Garvey. I’m Lancer-Captain Kells, Captain of this ship. Elder Maxson is currently in another meeting, but he’ll be speaking with you soon.” 

Just as he finished speaking, a man who looked like he was her age came running out of the ship. 

He almost tripped when he stopped, and he slammed his fist against his chest, “Captain, he’s ready for the meeting.” 

“Thank you, initiate. Escort them to the Elder. General,” he said with a nod, before walking off. 

“Alright, follow me,” the initiate said. 

Claudia and Preston followed him inside. Although the inside of the Prydwen was certainly impressive, it wasn’t all that surprising. It was all steel and high tech. 

He lead them to the ladder in the middle, “We have to go up here.” 

They nodded, and followed him up. It opened up to the end of a hallway. There were doors, no doubt quarters, to their left, right, and back. The hall in front of them opened up to the major part of the ship. 

He lead them to the door that was behind him, “These are the Elder’s quarters. He’s waiting for you inside.” 

He then went back down the ladder, leaving them standing alone. 

Claudia looked at Preston, “Do we knock?” 

Preston grimaced, “I guess? Let me do it since I’m wearing gloves.” 

Just as he started to raise his fist the door opened. A man who was noticeably taller than Preston stood in the doorway. The sides of his head were shaven, and the hair on top was slicked. The skin around his eyes was discolored, and a deep scar cut into his right cheek. He had a full beard, and looked strong enough to throw Claudia across the room with ease. She blinked a few times, because he looked like an evil version of her uncle. 

“Claudia Flynn, General of the Minutemen,” she held out her hand for him to shake. 

He shook it, “I’m sure you’ve heard of me by this point, but allow me to make a proper introduction. Arthur Maxson. Elder of this chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel.” 

She nodded, “And this is Preston Garvey. Major, and my second in command.” 

“Welcome, let’s get down to business,” he said, stepping so they could enter. 

She looked around his room as she entered. There was a bench on the left hand side, and his bed was pushed against the right wall. A desk with a terminal was directly ahead of the door. A table with four chairs sat in the middle of the room. 

“Please, take a seat,” he gestured to the table, “Would you like a drink?” 

She turned to see him holding a bottle of whiskey. Her eyebrows furrowed at that, “No thank you.” 

She glanced at Preston who shook his head no. He gave her an unhappy look before sitting down. She sat next to him. 

“So, you’re probably wondering why I called this meeting,” Maxson said sitting across from her. 

“Yes, we weren’t told why.” 

“There are several things I would like to discuss, but first I would like to ask you if you know why we’re here.” 

“I’m afraid not.” 

“A while ago we sent a recon team here. We have done so twice before, but this time they recorded energy readings that suggest proof of rumors we had been hearing for a while. Rumors of the Institute, and it is our job to ensure these levels of technology are not abused. Humanity is its own greatest enemy, so someone must keep those who wish to take science too far. Like they did with the atom.” 

She glanced at Preston who looked thoroughly unimpressed, and she would’ve sworn he looked annoyed. 

“That’s what we figured,” Claudia said. 

“So I was wondering if you knew anything about them.” 

She had to keep herself from saying _I told you so_ to Preston. Instead she said, “Other than that they exist? Nothing. We… I had a run in with their gen 1s and 2s. Took all of them down of course, but I didn’t really learn anything from it.” 

“Are you sure? This is why we are here, so I trust you are not lying.” 

“Yes, I’m sure,” she hoped it wasn’t obvious that she was lying. She had to fight the urge to look at Preston. 

He narrowed his eyes, but carried on, “Then there’s the other thing I’d like to speak to you about. We’ve noticed that you’ve built artillery at that fort. I was wondering why.” 

Claudia perked up slightly at that. She could tell the truth here, “Well, I’m not sure if you knew, but we lost control over it before I joined up. A mirelurk queen attacked. Because of things like that, and because we have our enemies, we thought it would be best to set up some protections at our headquarters. I’m sure you have plenty of things to protect yourself with here.” 

“Enemies?” 

“Raiders and Gunners. I’m not too worried about the raiders. Gunners on the other hand are a different story.” 

Preston spoke up for the first time, “They’re a lot tougher than they seem.” 

“You seem to be tougher than you seem as well.” 

Claudia glanced at Preston again. His face was unreadable. 

She cleared her throat, “I suppose so.” 

Maxson nodded, “Well that was all I wanted. I thought it would be nice to make a formal introduction, but before you leave I have a request to make. Let us deal with things regarding the Institute. We are more than equipped to deal with it.” 

“Sure thing,” Claudia lied through her teeth as she stood up, “Have a nice day.” 

“Same to you, General.” 

They closed the door behind them. Neither took a step further, instead they turned towards each other. 

Claudia gave Preston the most confused look she could manage as she hissed, “What the fuck was that?” 

“I have no idea, but I don’t like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best it make it awkward


End file.
